CRESTVIEW — Inventory is still being shipped from its Kentucky and Fort Walton Beach locations, and fixtures like lights and the credit card machine were still being installed Dec. 1, but Dan's Discount Jewelry & Pawn is already serving customers.
Owner Bryce Jeter and three of 10 staff members are getting the store ready for its grand opening, which is 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Dec. 3 at 299 Main Street. The store's regular hours are also 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Saturday.
Jeter said the opening is "supposed to start Saturday, but if somebody wants to come in and buy something today, we will talk about it." While working on it Thursday, they'd had a few people come in to see if they were open yet, and did business.
"A lot of our inventory comes in through our front door. People will come in and bring us stuff and sell us stuff … we'll be fully stocked up for Christmas a week or two from now."
Items and services at the store include loans, firearms, ammunition and jewelry.
The Crestview location is part of a family-owned, 30-year business. The first of Dan Merryman's 17 stores through the years began in Lexington, Kentucky. Even Jeter has been with the company for most of his 32 years. "He's my uncle and I've worked for him all my life."
As for how the stores expanded from Kentucky to Northwest Florida, he said, "I grew up down here and I went to Fort Walton Beach High School. I've lived 15 years of my life in Kentucky and I've lived 15 in Florida. This is my home and this is why we've moved the store down here. It's been challenging, but it's been good challenges."
While traveling, transferring employees and transferring inventory were among those obstacles, "The biggest thing is just branding stuff here," Jeter said.
"Three years ago when we opened a store in Fort Walton Beach, everybody didn't know us, didn't know our business and thought we were crazy. We let them know who we are and what we do … We're not just a business. We are a clean, bright, well-lighted, family friendly pawn shop retail store, not just a place with bars on the windows."
This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Dan's Discount & Pawn opens its doors (PHOTOS, VIDEO)