Pawn 1 Inc., a Spokane-based chain of pawn stores, plans to open a large outletits ninth overalllater this month in Lewiston, Idaho, says Mark Lax, the companys president and owner.


The company expects to open more stores within the next 18 months or so, in Boise or Missoula, Mont., and is looking at opening two or more stores simultaneously in one of those markets, Lax says.


The Lewiston superstore will occupy an 8,000-square-foot building thats being built on Thain Road, a commercial arterial there, Lax says. Eckhardt Cos., of Boise, is developing the building, which Pawn 1 will lease, and Marvel Construction, of Lewiston, is the general contractor on the $750,000 project, he says.


A recruitment seminar held by Pawn 1 in Lewiston attracted 45 job applicants, from which eight to 10 will be hired to staff the new store, Lax says, adding that the company also will transplant two people there from here.


The new outlet will be modeled after Pawn 1s similar-sized store at 8014 N. Division on Spokanes North Side. That store has more retail space and a much larger jewelry area than in Pawn 1s older shops, and has generated strong sales since moving there from a smaller space last year.


Pawn 1 this summer spent several hundred thousand dollars remodeling and expanding its Spokane Valley store, at 11812 E. Sprague, also to replicate its new super-store retail model. Baker Construction & Development, of Spokane, was the general contractor on that project.


Along with those two stores, Pawn 1 has outlets at 3220 N. Monroe, 3705 N. Market, 3023 E. Sprague, and in Post Falls, Coeur dAlene, and Hayden.


The company launched an aggressive expansion strategy about nine years ago, but scaled back its growth plans about two years ago after experiencing cash-flow problems of its own. It later inked a multimillion-dollar financing agreement with U.S. Bank, and over about the last year has been experiencing strong sales and employment growth, Lax says.


We had a tremendous July, August, September, with Pawn 1s revenues in that quarter up 50 percent over the year-earlier period, he says. Year to date, its revenues are running 30 percent ahead of last years pace, Lax says. Also, he says, the company has added nearly 25 employees so far this year.


He attributes the upswing partly to the generally soft economic conditions, which tend to help pawn stores, but perhaps more significantly to inroads the company has made against competitors.


We have increased our market share through consistency of branding and probably slowly putting a hurt on the small competitor, Lax asserts, adding that some mom-and-pop pawn shops in the geographic region that Pawn 1 serves have closed.


Part of the chains recent growth, he says, also has been due to its branding and marketing of its growing jewelry-sales operation under the name Dotties Discount Jewelry, named for Dottie Skelton, who has been with Pawn 1 for two years and had extensive prior sales experience here.


Its been a great response, he says.