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Richard Benjamin Harrison, Jr. was born on March 4, 1941 in Danville, Virginia. His father, a carpenter, moved the family to Lexington, North Carolina when Richard was one year old. He quit school in his junior year of high school and enlisted in the United States Navy to avoid imprisonment for auto theft. In 1960, he married JoAnne Rhue, the daughter of a county judge. He left the Navy in February 1962, but re-enlisted 14 months later in order to obtain the health benefits necessary to meet his daughter Sherry's Down's syndrome medical expenses (Sherry later passed away when she was only 6 years old). Eventually, Richard served in the U.S. Navy for 20 years, including stints as a paymaster and attaining the rank of petty officer first class. He was transferred to San Diego, California in 1967 where three years later JoAnne obtained her real estate license and opened her own office in 1973. After Richard was discharged from the Navy, he worked part-time in his wife's office. Declining real estate sales caused by interest rates as high as 18 percent, cost the couple $1 million and the collapse of the business in 1981. With only $5,000, Richard subsequently moved with JoAnne and their three sons (Joseph, Rick and Chris) to Las Vegas, Nevada in pursuit of a fresh start. The following year, he leased a 300 square foot shop and opened Gold & Silver Coin Shop. His son Rick dropped out of school in 10th grade (because, according to Rick, he was making $2,000 a week selling fake Gucci bags) and soon afterward went to work with his father. As a child, Rick suffered from epileptic seizures frequently confining him to bed, lead to his lifelong love of reading - particularly physics and history (especially, the British Navy from the late 1700s to the early 1800s). Rick eventually gained a sharp eye for valuable items and earned the nickname of "The Spotter."

Five years later, Richard obtained a license to buy and sell second-hand goods. When the shop's lease expired in 1988, Richard and Rick (then 23) became co-owners and invested $10,000 to relocate the business two miles from the Las Vegas Strip and renamed it Gold & Silver Pawn Shop. Richard (aka "The Old Man") and Rick's new business was initially based on pawn items, but soon stepped up to buy-sell items brought into their shop. By 2005, they were loaning out about $3 million annually to (mainly) gamblers who often came in to pawn jewelry and other personal items so they had gas money to get back home. Pawn loans brought them about $700,000 in interest income.

After the shop was featured in the Insomniac with Dave Attell in 2003, Rick spent four unsuccessful years pitching the idea of making a show about a pawn shop. Then, unexpectedly in 2008, Leftfield Pictures came up with an idea about a reality show based in a Las Vegas pawn shop and approached Rick about the idea of a reality show. The Pawn Stars series was originally pitched to HBO, but was contracted to the History Channel and began airing in July of 2009. By January 2011, Pawn Stars was the highest rated program on the History Channel with over seven million viewers, the most-watched telecast ever on History. In 2011 it was the second highest-rated reality series on TV behind Jersey Shore. The show's format consisted of five or six vintage items, a history of each item, and evaluation of the potential value with the customer, interspersed with an explanation of the basis of the valuation. If the guys were unable to evaluate an object, they consult with a knowledgeable expert who can evaluate it to determine its authenticity and potential value, and in the case of items needing repair, the cost of restoration. In July 2011, they signed a record-breaking 80-episode renewal contract for four more seasons of the series.  Pawn Stars is now going into its sixth season! 

The shop is the only family-owned pawn shop in Las Vegas, and is still run by Richard (aka "The Old Man") and Rick (aka "The Spotter"), along with Rick's son Corey (aka "Big Hoss") (who started working at the shop at age 9 polishing jewelry, and is now manager of operations and the shops 30 employees), and Corey's childhood friend Austin "Chumlee" Russell (who does behind-the-counter work). Since the inception of Pawn Stars, the store inventory in 2011 expanded to a ratio of over 5,000 items pawned per 12,000 items of the store's total stock. Although jewelry remains their most commonly pawned item at the shop, they are known for having special sports items that come complete with a story, and today boasts an inventory of more than fifty percent vintage or antique items. It is one of the few pawn shops that deal in antiques and fine art. (The guys can't actually work the counter anymore because of privacy laws; since they've become celebrities, people are constantly taking pictures of them, compromising the privacy of whoever's at the pawn counter.)

Research reveals that The Old Man's net worth is $3 million (he has not missed a day at the shop in 17 years - he is the first to arrive at the shop in the morning and has not had a sick day since 1994). Rick Harrison's net worth is $5 million. Corey Harrison's net worth is estimated at $1.3 million. Chumlee's net worth is $600 thousand (he earns a salary of $25,000 per episode).

In 2010, the National Pawnbrokers Association awarded the Pawnbroker of the Year Award to Rick Harrison and the staff of the Gold and Silver Pawn Shop for their contributions in bringing the industry greater recognition and a better image. In 2011, History Channel launched Pawn Stars: The Game for play on Facebook. In June 2011, Rick's autobiography, License to Pawn: Deals, Steals, and My Life at the Gold & Silver, was published which details his childhood, some of the troubles he faced before he got into the pawning business, and anecdotes from his time at the shop, plus chapters dedicated to The Old Man, Corey and Chumlee. Bally Technologies recently unveiled a new slot machine featuring the cast of Pawn Stars.

Although many of our services are covered under our factoring fee, the actual USPS postage cost of mailing your invoices and statements to your customers will be charged to your account as an expense.

If you would like to find out more about our factoring services for your business and/or apply for an account with Mazon Associates, please phone us at 972-554-6967 (toll-free 800-442-2740) or visit our website www.mazon.com.

Sometimes customer retention has nothing to do with your products and services.  Often times it is memorable customer service that will keep them coming back for more.  Tactics like personal attention, building ongoing relationships, customer loyalty, and service after the sale all contribute to increasing customer retention.  (Source:  www.Manta.com)

Nov. 3: Sandwich Day; Nov. 4: Daylight Savings Time Ends; Nov. 6: Election Day; Nov. 10: Marine Corps Birthday; Nov. 11: Veterans Day; Nov. 13: Sadie Hawkins Day; Nov. 15: America Recycles Day; Nov. 18: Mickey Mouse's Birthday; Nov. 19: US Marine Corps Day; Nov. 22: Thanksgiving Day, National Stop the Violence Day; Nov. 23: Black Friday. November is also American Diabetes Month.

NOTICE: Mazon offices will be closed on Monday, Nov. 12 in observance of Veterans Day, and Thursday & Friday, Nov. 22 & 23 in observance of the Thanksgiving Day holiday. You may still submit invoices during our closed hours via fax, e-mail or drop-slot to be processed the next business day.

Abundance: The Future Is Better Than You Think, by Peter H. Diamandis and Steven Kotler, Published February 21, 2012 by Free Press, ISBN-13 9781451614213.

Between global warming, a global financial crisis and global food shortages, you can't blame folks for being a tad depressed AND on top of all that, if you believe the Mayan Calendar, 2012 is supposed to be the year it all ends for all of us.

But in their book, Abundance: The Future is Better Than You Think, the authors offer a boldly contrarian and optimistic book for today's cynical times. They make the case that we are indeed on the cusp of a new era, an era when the lives of millions are improved.

Think of this book as the ultimate "Yes, we can!"

Tech entrepreneur turned philanthropist, Diamandis (he's the chairman and CEO of the X PRIZE Foundation) and award-winning science writer Kotler declare that "humanity is now entering a period of radical transformation where technology has the potential to significantly raise the basic standard of living for every man, woman and child on the planet. Within a generation, we will be able to provide goods and services that were once reserved for the wealthy few to any and all who need them. ... Abundance for all is actually within our grasp." (Source: www.CNBC.com)

Remember the tea kettle. It is always up to its neck in hot water, yet it still sings.

111,111,111 X 111,111,111 = 12,345,678,987,654,321

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