Discovering ways to get a hold of some extra cash, that's what more and more people are doing these days. As KTEN's Jhen Kordela finds, many people are turning to pawn shops to get money for old items and as a way to get a loan. 

FI Pawn Shop, off of W. Main Street in Denison, is seeing a different type of clientele.   Workers there are taking anything from boats to tractors and loaning cash in return to hold them until customers can buy those items back.

"It's harder to just run down to the bank to get a loan," says Cindy Kuneman, owner of FI Pawn Shop. "So, it's much easier to just come to a pawn shop. It's safe, it's (confidential), nobody can know what you're doing. it's the same rules that apply to a bank that apply at a pawn shop, and it's quick and easy. You just get what you need and you come back and pick it up later."

What Kuneman sees in her store on a daily basis is an indicator of what's going on across the country.

According to the president of the national pawnbrokers association, Shop owners are seeing middle-and upper-class customers who are suffering credit problems, sliding stock holdings and unexpected layoffs.

But, contrary to what you might think in a tough economy, Kuneman says sales are doing just fine.

"Actually, my sales this year have been better than the last 10 years, so that was very encouraging," says Kuneman.

Locally, gold coins, guns and jewelry are the most common items you're most likely to see in a pawn shop.

Nationally, diamonds, furs, expensive watches and other jewelry pieces are the most common items.

- Jhen Kordela, KTEN News.