After receiving an accounting and systems degree from Arizona State University I was home-bound for Reno in my ‘72 green and white Capri. My mind was imagining every possible way to improve our store performance. With only 5 employees there were a lot of hats that needed to be worn. In the years that followed and still even today, Pawn Systems became my hands-on directive. It is the essential element that led our company to unparalleled success.
In 1986, an Apple IIe came out of pawn. Thrilled, I hired two customers whom were engineering students at the University Nevada – Reno. They wrote my first computerized inventory system. From that $200.00 program, Tom and Ed started their own company and I became their primary customer.
In 1999, after 2 generations of Pawn operating systems, a complete IT department and a 3 million dollar budget, we launched PRIMA. Pawn – Retail – Internet – Management – Analysis system. PRIMA was the first and is still the ONLY enterprise operating system for Pawn.
On the cusp of an Internet revolution, we knew where we wanted and needed to be. PRIMA’s design enabled us to move forward with both a comprehensive multiple store enterprise and a complete ecommerce solution. Five years later, coupled with a 2 million dollar a year budget, PRIMA became the eminent system. No other operator in the pawn industry has been able to duplicate it.
In 2005, I sold Superpawn to Cash America. Superpawn’s purchase price was unprecedented by every valuation method used. Superpawn’s historic worth was created by PRIMA. The essence of Superpawn culture was the diversity of the people. Our company was comprised of old school pawnbrokers, managers from Fortune 500 companies, graduates from great Universities, and regular hard working people. PRIMA enabled all of these people to each reach the highest level of competency and contribution. I always believed you need to give the best people the best tools – and that’s what we did! Our system’s purpose was 1) make it simple for employees to operate the store 2) enhance the employee’s opportunity to spend more time with the customer. As an operator, I envisioned the system to do the heavy lifting; I wanted my employees always to have the time to make the important investments in taking care of the customer.
In January 2010 a confluence of resources emerged - I got bored and (more importantly) two former engineers became available through the devastation of the current economy. These guys wanted to continue pursuing our dream to deliver a PRIMA “light system” through the web utilizing the latest Microsoft technologies for small companies; offering outstanding value at the lowest cost. And that is what we’ve done with the introduction of Bravo – all of the powerful attributes of PRIMA but for single-store operators. Additionally, we have resurrected the availability of PRIMA for mid-size and large companies. PRIMA is better than the operation systems of Cash America, EZ Corp, and First Financial… COMBINED! Seriously, it really is.
I am ecstatic to introduce our products to you. Together we can do away with the system deficiencies this industry has come to accept-for once and for all!
