Loyalty Pawn's Three Balls Chronicle Volume 6 Issue 5

THREE BALLS CHRONICLE

VOLUME 6 / ISSUE 5

May 2023

IN THIS ISSUE

Letter from the President

Letter from the General Manager

Loyalty Pawn Family

Store Manager Updates

Golden 1 Center Events

Upcoming Sales

Monthly Birthstone Guide

Upcoming Birthdays and Anniversaries and New Hires

Loyalty Pawn’s Core Goals, Values and Visions

Employee Services Corner

Team Loyalty!

Happy May!! Mothers day is going to be on Sunday May 14th and we hope that everyone has a wonderful day with their families! Memorial Day is on Monday May 29th. We have added some new events that are available so be sure to check that out starting on page 10 and we have many events for you and your families to enjoy, so be sure to get your requests in. The kings had a great season this year and made it to the playoffs, which was awesome! And don’t forget to share our electronic newsletter with your friends and families on the Issuu App. Keep doing an amazing job Team Loyalty!!

President’s Letter

Hello Loyalty Pawn Family,

I would like to talk a bit about my family. Many of you already know but here is some information on me and my family for our new team members. My youngest daughter turned 14 and that is crazy to me. Being a father of three growing daughters is fun, ever-changing, and stressful but always worth it. My oldest daughters, Lauren, she graduated from the University of Alabama one year ago, (Roll Tide) moved to Atlanta with a job at an accounting and financial investment firm and she is pursuing her masters in finance in August of this year; she also puts our newsletter together and manages our suite at the Golden 1 Center. Lilly is my middle daughter, and she is 17 and a junior in high school, she is extremely excited to be soon going into her senior year which happens immediately after her last day of her junior year middle of May. My youngest daughter is London, she turned 14 on the 23rd of April, she is in the seventh grade and the sweetest of all my girls (all my daughters agree so this is not a mean thing to say, ha-ha); London is looking forward to being a big eighth grader which leads to high school. I am so proud of all my girls they make every day special to me.

The month of April was not without its challenges, but together we rose above them and continued to move forward. As always, we had some team member situations, we had a good growth month, but sales struggled a bit. The tax return money did not last as long as we would have liked. We are still strong as a company and have done an extremely excellent job of maintaining capital and our growth as well as maintaining this inflationary period that is affecting all of us. Gold and silver are staying strong, which will help us continue to grow. We had a California Pawnbrokers Association (CAPA) conference at the end of April which was successful. Wayne, Javier, Justin, and Mark will provide some of their takeaways and if you have more detailed questions, please ask. We love to open these conferences to all our team members; they are fun and educational. A few things discussed at our board meeting that will affect us directly are a continuing education program for all licensed pawnbrokers which will elevate our industry and a pawn fee modernization topic. These will be worked on legislatively moving forward and make us be able to stay viable and profitable in the years to come. We are also working with our software vendors to allow us more ability to do online or app-based transactions and finally we talked about our spring conference in Long Beach at the end of September. Show us why you are the one we will bring!

Thank you again for all you do for our Loyalty Pawn Family, keep up the magnificent work and let's learn and grow as a team.

Gratefully,

Stan Lukowicz, III

Letter from the General Manager

Hello Everyone,

We had a great month. We saw the tax money arrive. Unlike many in the past, the clients went through their money quickly this year. For the month of April, we trended with loan growth above $67,000 for the month. We are seeing this trend in other operations as well. Typically, we prepare to increase our loans in May & June, but this year started a little earlier. We have also noticed a decline in retail sales as well. While we like to compare months to the previous year’s numbers, I couldn’t help but notice the comparison from March 2023 to April 2023. Between March and April, our sales shrank $44,000. This issue is short-term, but we must stay vigilant by hitting our daily sales goals.

The top three salesmen for April are Dominic T. in first place, Paul Molina in second place, and Tony M. in third place. Congratulations gentlemen. We have a few holidays in the near future to help move more of our inventory. We look forward to closing the gap in our sales and securing more layaway sales.

One thing I wanted to highlight is the continuous scams that are ongoing in our communities. We have been doing an excellent job qualifying our clients. We like being involved in other pawn forum groups to stay updated on those traveling from city to city to sell fake items like diamonds, Rolexes, coins, comics and more. I encourage you all to socially get involved online through Facebook, Instagram, tik tok and more to help develop contacts within the industry. Our first form of defense has always been in the qualification process to help avoid costly mistakes. Please engage and involve your manager if something doesn't feel right so we don’t accidentally fall for one of these trending scams. If there is anything we have learned as a company, people will try courageous things to take advantage of you. Thankfully, we have many excellent customers to compensate for the bad apples.

To conclude, we have been steadily adding new team members to the company. This is great to see us operate in a more normal environment. We plan to have busy months ahead of us and we’re happy to have new team members on board to be active participants and help celebrate our continued successes.

Sincerely,

Wayne Silliman General Manager

“Even if you’re on the right track, you will get run over if you just sit there.” -Will Rogers

Loyalty Pawn Family

Greetings Loyalty Pawn Family,

It's been a rollercoaster ride with the Kings this year, but let's not forget the excitement and anticipation for next year's "Light the Beam" performance. As we gear up for the future, let's not forget to focus on the present and tackle the issue of our steadily increasing loan balance. Rest assured, our team is working hard to find solutions and strategies to manage this situation effectively. In other news, some of our leaders and corporate officers were fortunate enough to attend the 7th annual Northern California CAPA convention. These conventions continue to be a valuable opportunity for us to stay relevant in the association while building relationships within the industry. We were proud to see our leader President Stan, in action, and it was inspiring to see the great ideas in the works for continued education and involvement in our industry. As we continue to network and learn from some of the greatest pawnbrokers in the state, we are also excited to visit our friends from the focus group Idaho Pawn & Gold this month. This trip holds a special significance as it gives us a chance to reconnect with one of our former team members, Dylan Tinklenberg, who now works there. Lastly, we are thrilled to introduce one of the newest team members of our Roseville team, Manny Ghasemi Neri. We can't wait to see the contributions and value he will bring to our team and look forward to working with him.

1. What’s your favorite way to spend a day off?At home relaxing, hanging out with family and friends or at the gym.

2.  Where’s the next place on your travel bucket list and why? Netherlands and because that’s where I was, born and I haven’t been back since

3. What was your favorite age growing up? 18

4. Do you have a favorite holiday? Why or why not? Christmas. Best time of the year, always cheerful and great weather.

5. What was the last thing you read? Relentless by Tim s. Grover

6. What was the last TV show you binge-watched? Big mouth

7. Are you into podcasts or do you only listen to music? Yes, I like podcasts.

8. What's one thing that can instantly make your day better? Positive energy around me, good friends and music.

9. What’s one goal you have for this year personally and professionally? To focus on myself and lock in on my dreams and passions, go to school and stay consistent at the gym.

10. Ideally, how would you spend your birthday? With friends and family or go on a trip somewhere fun like Vegas.

11. What's your favorite board game? Chess

12. That’s the best way the company can celebrate you and your team for success? Spending time together outside of work such as getting food or drinks.

13. What causes are you passionate about? World Peace.

14. What’s an essential part of your daily routine? Going to the gym almost every day.

15. Who or what inspires you in your career? My dad inspires me and so does making a difference and just being different.

16. What’s something an outsider wouldn’t know about your industry? We have the best team and shop around.

17. What’s the career highlight you’re most proud of? Being happy at my work and enjoying what I do.

18. Do you believe in having a "five-year plan"? Yes, I believe that works for some people.

19. What’s the best piece of advice a family member has given you? Don’t let other people's opinion affect what you want in life.

20. What is your definition of success? Being happy in your life with what you have and living in the moment.Achieving goals and reaching dreams.

Shop Talk Manager Updates

El Camino

Team Loyalty,

May is finally here and we are full of holidays and 80-degree weather. It's starting to finally warm just like our sales we ended the month of April at 57,939.63 beating Florin whoo, whoo we definitely sold more 2023 than 2022. A couple of new things this month is our new goal of 75k we are still seeing a little tax money trickling in. Also, we have a new business opening across the EL Camino store this month. We have Canes Chicken across the street and Amazon Smart Store opening up this summer as well as our new convenient store with a car wash. New things, new potential customers, speaking of customers, we have hit our new layaway balance of 97k and growing. Also Happy Mother's Day to all the mothers out there.

Cheers,

Tony Mora

Roseville

Hello Team Loyalty,

We are excited to announce that Manny has joined our team! He brings a lot of excitement and eagerness to learn the pawn industry, and we know he will be a valuable addition to our company. As we move forward, we are committed to increasing the number of physical transactions in our stores. To achieve this goal, we are diversifying the items we are accepting for pawn, which will help us grow our inventory and provide more options for our customers. Recently, I attended the Capa Northern Conference where we had the opportunity to discuss some of the challenges we face as a business. We spoke with Bravo about issues that are important to us, such as customer engagement. We suggested implementing an Ad Hoc report that would allow us to track every time a customer's profile is pulled up or looked at, regardless of whether they did a deal with us or not. This will help us better understand our customers and provide them with the best possible service. Thank you for your continued loyalty and support. Roseville looks forward to May and growing our Numbers.

Justin Martinez

Broadway

Hello Team,

Loyalty pawn Broadway has been getting up to all kinds of good things. Our buys have been above and beyond last month. We have been actively searching on Facebook and and offer up to get customers in the store and its been working. We have been getting lots of jewelry cleaned and priced to get to the stores in time for mothers day. And have all our fingers crossed for some big sales days this coming month. We want to say welcome to our newest higher Elijah and we have high expectations for him to do good.

John Mark

Florin Mall

Loyalty Pawn Families,

I hope everyone had a wonderful and fun Easter. Spring is here and all the flowers are blooming, but we still got some rain coming in for May. Team Florin hit our highest loan balance at $1.72 million and is expecting to hit $1.73 million soon. Team Florin have set a goal to double our sales from May 2022. We have a big goal to hit $94.3k, but like a popular proverb “when the going gets tough, the tough gets going” I have set an individual sale challenge for my team here first one to hit 25% of our goals with received a gift from me. I am also thankful that I was able to attend CAPA 7th Annual Northern California Spring Conference. Team Florin will be doing a lot of spring cleaning, getting rid of things we don’t need and re-organizing our shelves to make space. Happy Birthday to Javier and Paul, I also wanted to say Happy Mother’s Day to all the mothers here in our Loyalty Pawn Family, saludos brindis to everyone that will celebrating Cinco De Mayo and remembering all our heroes on May 29. Let’s have a great month in May.

Mark Xiong

Top Performers in April

April End of Month Balances

Golden 1 Center Upcoming Events

Below is the list of events that are posted as of right now and we will be adding events to this list each month as they get posted! If you would like to request tickets send you ticket request forms to lauren.l@loyaltypawn.com so that I can get your requests in and if you need a request form email lauren.l@loyaltypawn.com and I can send you a copy! With the Golden 1 Center opening back up there is a limited number of tickets available, so for every event you are only allowed to request and receive 4 tickets per event!

May Sales Flyer

Monthly Birthstone Guide

This will help educate you about some of the more popular semi and precious stones we come across and it will also help you close some more sales. The idea is to educate you on each month’s birthstone as you can arrange your cases properly and make suggestions to our clients that may be browsing or even looking for a gift. Let’s think outside the box when utilizing this information.

JANUARY – Garnet

MARCH – Aquamarine

FEBRUARY Amethyst

MAY – Emerald

APRIL – Diamond

JUNE –Pearl & Alexandrite

JULY – Ruby

AUGUST – Peridot

SEPTEMBER – Sapphire

OCTOBER – Opal & Tourmaline

NOVEMBER – Citrine & Topaz

DECEMBER – Topaz & Turquoise

Anniversaries, Birthdays and New Hires

May Anniversaries

Orry Mccracken 4 years

May Birthdays

Javier Becerra May 1st

Ricardo Molina May 11th

Paul Molina May 14th

April New Hires

We would like to welcome our recent new hires to our Loyalty Pawn family. Ali Ghasemi Neri to our Roseville location and Elijah Leeds to our Broadway location. Welcome to the team Ali and Elijah

Loyalty Pawn’s Goals, Values, and Visions

Company Wide Goals

• To Offer Immediate Relief with a Short-Term Loan.

• To Develop, Recruit and Inspire an Elite Work Force, Driven by Loyal Business Practices.

• To Provide the Highest Standard of Quality, Commitment and Value to Every Customer in Our Loyalty Pawn Family!

Core Values

• Loyalty

• Dedication

• Creativity

Company Vision

• Loyal People Committed to Everyday Satisfaction

“The Leader in Local Lending”

Loyalty Pawn Employee Services Corner

MAY…

May” is likely named after the Roman goddess Maia, who oversaw the growth of plants. Alternatively, the name might have come from the Latin maiores, “elders”.

By the time May rolls around we’ve had about enough of the rain and finicky weather and are losing patience in our wait for summer. There aren’t many holidays in May either.

MAY CALENDAR OF NATIONAL EVENTS

• May 1 is May Day. Mark the return of spring by bringing in branches of forsythia, lilacs, or other flowering shrubs from your region. May Day is also “Lei Day” in Hawaii. Leis are garlands or wreaths that are often made with native Hawaiian flowers such as plumeria. Nowadays, they are given as a symbol of greeting, farewell, affection, celebration, or honor, in the spirit of aloha.

• May 5 is Cinco de Mayo (“The Fifth of May”). This day celebrates the victory of the Mexican army over the French army at The Battle of Puebla in 1862. Discover Mexican-American recipes and ways to celebrate Cinco de Mayo!

• May 14 is Mother’s Day don’t forget! Do you have something planned to show appreciation for your mother?

• May 20 is Armed Forces Day, which honors those who serve in all branches of the United States military.

• May 22 is National Maritime Day. Created in commemoration of the first transoceanic voyage via steamboat (completed by the U.S.S. Savannah in 1819), this holiday recognizes the efforts of the U.S. merchant marine during both war and peace.

• May 22 is Victoria Day in Canada. This holiday celebrates the birthday of Queen Victoria, who was born on May 24, 1819. The holiday is observed on the penultimate Monday in May.

• May 29 is Memorial Day a poignant reminder of the tenacity of life. It’s tradition to raise the flag on this day…

U.S. Flag Code: Etiquette, Rules, and Guidelines

On June 22, 1942, Congress passed a joint resolution, later amended on December 22, 1942, that encompassed what has come to be known as the U.S. Flag Code. Perhaps the most important guideline involves how citizens should behave around the Stars and Stripes: The flag of the United States is the emblem of our identity as a sovereign nation, which the United States of America has been for more than 200 years.The flag is a symbol of respect, honor, and patriotism. It may be displayed on any day of the year according to the following guidelines:

• The flag should not be displayed on days when the weather is inclement.

• The custom is to display the flag only from sunrise to sunset on flagstaffs in the open, but it may be displayed at night if illuminated to produce a patriotic effect.

How to Properly Display the American Flag

As a symbol of our country and its people, the flag should be treated with respect and be honored when on display. In order to treat the flag with the dignity it deserves, the following display guidelines are recommended.

General Guidelines for Displaying the Flag:

• When the flag is hung vertically on a wall, window, or door, the Union (blue section) should be to the observer’s left. When the flag is hung either horizontally or vertically against a wall, the Union should be to the observer’s left.

• In a procession, the American flag should be to the right (the flag’s own right) of any other flag or, if in a line of other flags, in front of the center of that line.

• When displayed from a staff projecting from a building, the union should be at the peak of the staff.

• When the flag is displayed otherwise than by being flown from a staff, it should be displayed flat, whether indoors or out; or so suspended that its folds fall as freely as though the flag were staffed.

• When displayed over a street, the flag should be suspended vertically with the union to the north in an east and west street, or to the east in a north and south street.

• On a platform, the flag should be above and behind the speaker, with the union uppermost and to the observer’s left.

• When displayed from a staff in a church or auditorium, the flag should occupy the position of honor and be placed at the speaker’s right as he faces the audience.

• When the flag is used to cover a casket, the union should be at the head and over the left shoulder.

For details on how to display, hoist and lower the flag, visit: https://www.almanac.com/us-flag-etiquette-rules-and-guidelines

Here are some more fun things to celebrate this May:

• May 1: School Principals’ Day

• May 2: World Tuna Day

• May 8: No Socks Day

• May 10 (second Wednesday in May): Root Canal Appreciation Day. What? It’s a thing.

• May 14: Dance Like a Chicken Day

• May 28: Slugs Return from Capistrano Day

May Full Moon

May’s full Moon, called the Flower Moon, appears on Friday, May 5, reaching peak illumination at 1:36 P.M. (EDT). It will be below the horizon at this time, so for the best view of this full Moon, step outside on the night of the 4th or the 5th and look for that big, bright, shining lunar disk!

For other cool facts about the May Full Moon: Visit: https://www.almanac.com/full-moon-may

LOVE PEOPLE? COOK THEM TASTY FOOD!

May Recipe. Pie, Pie, Me Oh My!

Strawberry Rhubarb Chaat. Chaat is no single dish or recipe; it encompasses a range of snacks with a riot of textures and flavors. Here, tart rhubarb plays off the sweetness of strawberries; puffed chickpea cereal (boondi) delivers that essential crunch.

How to Make Strawberry Rhubarb Chaat - so scrummy! https://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/strawberry-rhubarb-chaat

401K-Loyalty Pawn Retirement $avings Program

Are you saving for retirement? Why not start today?

If you have completed 12 months of service with Loyalty Pawn, you’re eligible to participate and start putting away those pretax (or post tax Roth) dollars into your very own 401k account. To enroll, send me an email and I’ll help you get started. Contact Employee Services at employeeservices@loyaltypawn.com Start saving for retirement’s tomorrow, today!

When it comes to 401(k) plans, it's your money. But your boss and the government make the rules. Need more 401k investment info and advice? Contact our Investment Advisor, John Malhotra.

John S. Malhotra - Financial Services Representative CA Insurance License # 0K09207 1478 Stone Point Drive, Suite 390 Roseville, CA 95661 d (916) 607-9754 | f (844) 295-8527 e malhotra.john@principal.com w www.principal.com

Shout Out→Thank you to my subscription to the Old Farmer’s Almanac for inspirational quotes and content for LP’s Three Ball’s Chronicle each month.

If you need HR, Payroll, Benefits, or Family support, Loyalty Pawn’s Employee Services is only a phone call, text message, or email away, on demand, anytime! 916-752-2255 employeeservices@loyaltypawn.com

Loyalty Pawn

Corporate Office: 1708 Broadway

Sacramento, Ca 95818