Pawnshops have been popular for generations of city dwellers. Although parting with expensive and beloved items can be difficult, sometimes it is necessary due to financial hardships. In pre-revolutionary Penza, when money was scarce, residents often turned to the pawnshop on Sbornaya Street, 2.

Today, this building resembles a set from a post-apocalyptic film, but 100 years ago it impressed with its massiveness and monumentality. The strict brickwork and austere decor indicated that a large and solid organization was located here. The pawnshop opened in this building in the winter of 1890, and its initial charter capital was only 34,000 rubles, which was not much by the standards of financial institutions at that time. However, the pawnshop on Sbornaya Street quickly gained traction. Most often, the residents of Penza brought in watches, antiques, expensive fur items, gramophones, and sewing machines. Before World War I, the number of sewing machines brought in became so large that the management prohibited accepting them. A similar situation later arose with samovars. By that time, the pawnshop was already operating with hundreds of thousands of rubles and had become the wealthiest in the province. But this prosperity ended after October 1917.

Penza residents were reluctant to redeem their items, reclaiming only 10% of the pledged goods. The rest the pawnshop successfully sold, bringing it significant income.