Est. 1955 · Father & Son
The story of a watchmaker who never forgot what it felt like to need a loan.
Every family business has a founding story. Ours starts on the other side of the counter — and that made all the difference.
1952
The other side of the counter
Jacob “Jack” Cohen is a watchmaker at a Chicago pawnshop. One day, needing extra cash himself, he takes out a loan at the very shop he works for. Standing on the customer's side of the counter — feeling what it feels like to need help and hope for fairness — changes how he sees the business forever.
Your photo hereJacob at the watch bench, 1950s1955
Three principles, one storefront
Jack opens the 16th Street Loan Company on three principles: treat every customer fairly, honestly, and with respect; always give the customer a good deal; and do an honest day's work for an honest day's pay. Those three sentences become the family constitution.
1968
Losing everything — and starting over
The shop burns down in the 1968 riots. Underinsured, Jack loses everything he built. It would have been the end of most businesses — but he rebuilds at 440 South State Street and keeps the same three principles over the door.
1983
Torn down, not put down
The City of Chicago tears down the South State store to make way for the Harold Washington Library. Jack relocates to 160 N. State Street in the heart of the Loop. Later that year he suffers a heart attack — and Scott, his youngest son, leaves high school to take over the shop and keep it going.
1995
Passing the trade
Jack passes away on February 4, 1995. Scott carries the shop — and his father's three principles — forward, the same way he learned them: behind the counter, one fair deal at a time.
Today
Second generation, same deal
Cohen Brothers Pawn serves Chicagoland from Calumet City — one family, father then son, more than seventy years deep. Different century, same handshake.
Scott Cohen today — still reading the metal, not the customer.
The Family Constitution
Three principles, unchanged since 1955
Fair, honest, and with respect
Treat every customer fairly, honestly, and with respect — no matter who they are or what they bring to the counter.
Always a good deal
Always give the customer a good deal. If a deal isn't good for both sides, it isn't a good deal.
An honest day's work
Do an honest day's work for an honest day's pay. Earn trust every single day the doors are open.
Seventy years later, the deal is still the same.
Come see what a fair, honest, respectful deal feels like — the way Jack would have done it.