With most of Spokane businesses shut down to prevent spread of the coronavirus, commerce has been fluctuating from booming to slow spells at area pawn shops, which are some of the community’s quickest avenues for cash.

With so many residents staying at home, shoppers have been buying gaming systems and students are seeking laptops as they look forward to continuing their education with campuses closed, said Doug Karlson, owner of Axels Pawn Shop at 3301 E. Sprague Ave.

“We definitely had a big run on video games and gaming systems early on,” Karlson said. “We’ve had some laptop sales. Pretty much as soon as people were recommended to stay at home and schools were closed, we had a big rush at that point.”

Ken Craudell, store manager of Double Eagle Pawn, 3030 E. Sprague Ave., said business has been like a roller coaster. Pawn shops were deemed an essential business by Gov. Jay Inslee because they offer lending services.

“Up to about Wednesday or Thursday last week, we were extremely busy,” he said. “Now we have both busy and slow moments.”

Both stores have had to limit customers who are browsing so they can keep customers at a safe distance while they draw up paperwork at their pawn counters, where loans are written up, and at gun counters, Craudell said.

“We have to remind them that we are only allowing shopping with a purpose,” he said. “Some people are getting annoyed. But we have to limit access to the sales floor so we don’t have to turn people away who need loans or need money.”

So far, only a few of the stores’ customers have come in seeking to hock items to cover monthly bills, Karlson said.

“It’s not been a ton, but some of my regulars who are coming in are definitely saying that,” he said. “Since most people got paychecks for April, the anticipation is that will probably come next month. They are definitely starting to get a little worried.”

In the meantime, guns, which are always good business at Double Eagle, haven’t been the hottest items, Craudell said.

“Gun sales have tapered back some,” he said. “It has a lot to do with inadequate amounts of ammunition.”

This time of April is usually when turkey hunters prepare to hit the woods, people start camping and looking for spots to go fishing. But most of those activities have been shut down or postponed by the state.

“So, it’s forcing people to sit inside their homes and play computer games,” Craudell said. “Technology is pretty popular. I probably had a dozen phone calls a day for Nintendo Switches. We’ve sold a lot of video games, laptops and TVs. If they have them in pawn, they want to come get them out.”

Customers can get cash from pawn shops in a variety of ways. They can either shop for items they need, sell them outright, or use the item for collateral to obtain a 90-day loan, Karlson said.

“We’ve been working especially hard to extend their loans to get them through this,” he said. “There is such a large unbanked community who don’t have access to debit cards. A lot of people live paycheck to paycheck. Pawn shops serve that community.”

Other than loans, pawn shops also offer a place to find things that big-box stores can’t keep in stock.

“We have a ton of students coming in looking for laptops,” said Craudell, who had to go on his own scavenger hunt this week to find his daughter a copier/printer necessary for her classes at Eastern Washington University.

“I had three students (Monday) in from (Community Colleges of Spokane) who needed laptops that can handle programs from the school,” he said.

Clients have been bringing in jewelry, especially with higher gold prices, and purchasing a lot of home-improvement items, Karlson said.

“We’ve done a lot of tools,” he said. “Some homeowners are doing projects around the house because they are not going to work. We are doing everything we can to help the community as best we can.”