Page 134 - South Mississippi Living - October, 2019

all walks of life
Owner Kevin Riley
story by Kelsey Sunderman-Foster photos by Brian Pearse
When you think of pawn stores, you might think
of rundown buildings in a bad part of town, but Dad’s Super Pawn is changing the name of the game. Since its inception in 1989, Dad’s Super Pawn has been set aside in a class of its own, boasting a clean, upscale atmosphere and high- volume sales – some of the highest in the state and the region.
The venture came about on a whim recalls owner Kevin Riley, who has been in the pawn business since 1983. “My family was in the restaurant business,” he said. “My parents Jack and Vi opened up Mr. Jack’s Pizza
in Long Beach and later in Gulfport and Bay St. Louis, which were very successful. Then one day out of the blue, my dad called me to ask what I thought about the pawn business.”
Riley, who was attending college, had never set foot in a pawn shop before but was intrigued by his father’s idea. He decided to skip school (stay in school, kids) and check out some local pawn shops
for himself. “One thing that I immediately liked about the business was the variety of items involved,”
Riley said. “Every day at a pawn shop brings new and different things through the front door.”
One thing that Riley didn’t like, however, was the atmosphere of the stores he went into. “I decided that day that there was no reason why
a pawn shop needed to be dirty or feel unsafe,” said Riley. “That’s why we keep our store well lit, tidy and organized. In fact, we clean the floors each and every day.”
The upscale approach to pawn has led to massive success, allowing Dad’s Super Pawn to grow from a small storefront with two guns in stock and just $500 in the till to a 13,500-square- foot building with an inventory of more than 5,000 new and used guns.
“We have become one of the largest
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