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- We believe that what is disappearing is not just a particular place or a single shop, but an entire industry, which is the pawnshop industry. But on this field trip , the Fu Wing pawnshop may disappear in the next ten years.
- As for why it is disappearing, let’s take a closer look at pawn shops. Pawn shops are an ancient financial service that provides people with short-term loans. They are a part of Hong Kong’s history and also a reflection of economic activity. But in this day and age, there are too many ways to take out loans, such as bank loans, online lending, and services similar to ‘Huabei’ from Alipay. Especially with Huabei, where the interest rates are low and there is no need to pawn items, this is all more convenient than pawnshops. In addition, the value of real estate in Hong Kong is very high, so old buildings might be demolished to make way for more profitable projects. And now there are many second-hand item trading software, such as Carousell. Every one can sell their own goods on these software, which is also a kind of pawn shop in disguise. These pawn shops did not adjust to the change of the times during the most urgent decade, which caused them to be out of touch with the current Internet era. This may also be the reason why they will disappear.
Like any business, pawn shops can face financial challenges such as high operating costs, low profit margins, or excessive debt. If a pawn shop is unable to manage its finances effectively or secure adequate funding it may be forced to close its door.
Another potential reason is the epidemic. The epidemic lasted for about three years. During these three years, most people stayed at home and did not go out unless necessary. In addition, online shopping is now very developed. Three years has been enough to change people’s lives. purchasing habits. Maybe during the epidemic, customers of the original pawn shop chose online sales and experienced its convenience, which caused the pawn shop to lose customers. This may also be an indirect reason for its disappearance.
- In the past, pawn shops could be said to be one of the important components of society, helping those in urgent need of cash who were unable to obtain loans from banks. A pawn shop can also be said to be a shop that buys and sells goods, because they also need to make money by selling items that customers do not choose to redeem.And due to the special nature of pawnshops, they could also be seen as a small-scale museum. Because most people will choose to pawn some valuable items in a pawn shop in exchange for more cash, there will be valuable items from different eras in the pawn shop. Through these items, we can learn about Hong Kong in different periods, so we call pawn shops It’s a small museum and it’s reasonable.However, in today’s society, they still play the same role and have not evolved with the times, which can be said to be the reason why they will be eliminated.
- As for who will be affected by the disappearance of pawnshops, we suppose it would be the employees of the pawnshops as well as those who have items pawned there. The employees certainly don’t want it to disappear because they would lose their jobs, and those who have pawned items would need to speed up their repayment due to the closure of the pawnshops. Collectors and historians might also be concerned about the disappearance of pawnshops. Pawnshops are part of the cultural heritage and valuable for understanding society.
- Perhaps pawnshops could be converted into museums or cultural centers, where they could serve as places to educate the new generation of Hong Kong residents about local history and culture. Such a transformation could also provide a space for community gatherings, maintaining community cohesion. However, there are many pawn shops in Hong Kong, and I believe that even if some pawnshops successfully transform into museums, there will still be a considerable number of pawnshops that will disappear.
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