It was busy for a weekday morning. A table of old audio equipment, a coat rack, a jewelry case and chainsaw art occupied much of the aisle space, creating a more intimate shopping experience for browsers.
Locals point to the pawnshop as the “new” business in town, even though it opened its doors nearly two years ago. Maybe that’s because it’s the newest business that’s still alive here.
High gas prices this summer and muddy rivers from high spring runoff kept anglers from converging on the small town. Summer’s clear skies meant there were no tired, hungry firefighters at local motels and restaurants.
As winter approaches, business is not as usual in Superior. It’s grim.
Unless, of course, you’re Jay and Amy Bailey, owners of the antiques and sporting goods store and pawnshop. Generally, in times of economic distress, pawnshops have a tendency to do well. It’s no different here in Superior. Pawnshops offer customers a quick-cash option in lieu of banking. In a county with fewer than 5,000 residents and a poverty rate exceeding 15 percent, the Baileys’ store fills a niche. It’s the only store of its kind for 60 miles.
The Baileys said they left southern Oregon several years ago to get away from the Californians moving there and moved to Montana to be close to family and enjoy the many hunting opportunities. Their business card is hunter’s orange.
“Buy. Sell. Trade,” it says. “We pay cash.”
The latter catchphrase was important to St. Regis resident Tom Fisher last week when he cleaned out his work box. Fisher sold his old tools to pay for gas.
“It’s like that little bit we needed for the middle of the month,” he said.
It was Fisher’s first time to the Superior pawnshop. He wasn’t necessarily excited about selling his stuff, but “there’s not enough money on a fixed income,” he said. Fisher, who is disabled and has heart problems, lives off his Social Security check.
Unlike other pawnshops, Fisher liked that the Baileys’ shop was close to his home, paid cash and offered a fair price for his tools. The money earned in the transaction didn’t last long, however. That same afternoon, Fisher filled up the vehicle with gas so his ex-wife Carol could drive to Missoula later in the week. Now, he’ll ramp down his spending again.
“It’s pretty difficult to make a living here,” said Superior Mayor Mike Wood. “There are a lot of people who are just not thriving.”
The Baileys owned similar businesses in Oregon, but said they got too big and unmanageable. Already, customers have suggested the Baileys move their store into a bigger location because of its growing inventory, but they always politely demur. They like the small town and their small business, even though space is filling up fast.
“You can’t go wrong with an antiques store right off
I-90,” Jay said.
The Baileys found Superior by mistake. Several winters ago while shopping in the area for homes, the tired couple pulled off Interstate 90 at Superior. There was a “For Sale” sign on a vacant gas station along Main Street. The couple hadn’t been in town more than a few hours before Jay was shaking hands with the building owner.
The couple purchased the gas station and, unknowingly, the building next door, which at the time was home to the Lighthouse Baptist Church, Jay said. (The couple displaced the church to set up the pawnshop, but they later ended up joining its congregation.)
The Baileys’ immediate attraction to Superior was its friendly people.
“We couldn’t believe how many people wave here with all five fingers,” Amy said.
At the beginning, the business relied heavily on the Internet. But anymore, there’s a steady stream of customers visiting the shop, Jay said. Most of their paying customers are interested in the store’s wide selection of movies. The back room is full of mostly VHS cassettes and only a handful of DVDs.
“Most people here haven’t switched over yet,” Jay said.
Pawnshops fill a need, said Jim Hollenback, president of the Mineral County Chamber of Commerce. But “usually it’s at the bottom end of things,” he said. “If a woman needs to feed the kids, there’s a way to go from having no money to having some money.”
Hollenback, who owns Big Sky Motel in Superior, is the first to admit times are tough. Fewer tourists rented motel rooms this summer, but raising his rates kept Hollenback afloat.
There’s a silver lining, he said. Businesses in this timber community remain optimistic. A number of local residents are putting their heads together to spark positive development and attract drivers off the highway.
The chamber is in the beginning stages of helping revitalize the economy - and the town - by urging residents to shop locally. As gas prices climb, they want to launch a campaign encouraging residents to forego the long drive to Missoula’s box stores.
They are trying to create synergy by putting together a business directory. Several local stores are sharing one building to attract more customers.
Both Alberton and Superior residents are in the beginning stages of developing a program that looks at how the towns should grow and prosper.
Part of the reason customers are holding on to their money - and businesses are struggling - is because of the constant rhetoric by political candidates and the media about how awful things are, Hollenback said.
“I’m so looking forward to the day after the election,” he said. “Then that anxiety is out of our blood. Instead of talking about how negative things are, I want to start talking about the future rather than the past.”
Reporter Chelsi Moy can be reached at 523-5260 or at chelsi.moy@missoulian.com.
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