BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. -- Here in the land where appearance is everything, even pawn shops have publicists.
At Beverly Loan Co., fortressed by a burly guard and two security doors, the Zimmelman sisters want to drum up business at the 61-year-old brokerage they inherited from their father.So they hired a firm to blitz news organizations with tantalizing tidbits about their rich and famous clients -- an actor who tried to pawn his Oscar, a princess who traded crown jewels for cash and a producer who needed seed money for his new film.
Helaine, 53, and Jean, 50, won't reveal names. But they want it known that a socialite seeking cash can pawn her Picasso discreetly in their central Beverly Hills shop, which sits in an unobtrusive bank building.
"We protect our customers," Helaine said. "We like what we do. We have families who have been coming to us for years."
The shop's showroom doesn't display the pawn-shop staples of long-forgotten guitars or cheap, dust-dulled wedding bands. Instead, there is Lalique crystal, Erte statuettes, paintings by Marc Chagall, Joan Miro and David Hockney, and glass cases crammed with diamonds and gold.
The sisters say their work is a service, and ask: Where else can you get a six-figure loan with no credit check and no questions?
But there is one rather official question: Do the goods belong to you? Even here, brokers must submit to police a description of the hocked item and the pawner's thumbprint to ensure against thievery.
And the ritzy shop hues to a pawn-shop truism: Even in Beverly Hills, what people pawn can hint of desperation.
The sisters recently bought a gold dental bridge from a man who said it once belonged to a relative.
"Don't worry," he assured them. "She's been dead for years."