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Scott Harrison/Retna/HarrisonPhotos.com
Rick Harrison and DeAnna Burditt at the Peter Lik Gallery grand opening at Mandalay Place on Saturday, Feb. 25, 2012.
Tuesday, July 10, 2012 | 12:24 p.m.
Rick Harrison, Dan Aykroyd and Chuck Bowling attend Carlos Santana's mud ceremony and the band's grand opening night at House of Blues in Mandalay Bay on Friday, May 4, 2012.
The St. Baldrick's Foundation head-shaving fundraiser with, pictured here, Rick Harrison, Jake Pavelka and Joey Fatone, plus, Austin "Chumlee" Russell, Chippendales and others at McMullan's Irish Pub on Saturday, March 3, 2012.
Austin "Chumlee" Russell, Corey "Big Hoss" Harrison and Rick Harrison appear on "Kats With the Dish" during a recording of the show at Gold & Silver Pawn on Las Vegas Boulevard.
Richard Harrison and Rick Harrison at Borders in Town Square to sign copies of the latter's new book License to Pawn on June 10, 2011.
Editor’s Note: While Robin Leach takes his traditional summer vacation under the Tuscan sun in Italy, many of our Strip and Las Vegas personalities have stepped forward in his absence to pen their own words of wisdom. We kick off today with “Pawn Stars” hero Rick Harrison.
Three years in for “Pawn Stars.” And I thought it would only last maybe a season, if we were lucky. I have been fortunate enough to be on David Letterman, Jay Leno and soon Jimmy Kimmel, as well as most of the national morning shows. It has been and continues to be a journey.
Some of the highlights for me this year: Getting engaged to an amazing lady and getting three almost stepdaughters (I have three sons, so we are the modern-day Brady Bunch). I have never had daughters -- this is all new to me -- but I am loving it. Nothing like a little girl making you feel like a hero. I took my youngest son Jake to meet Big Time Rush a few times; he is a huge fan, and that was a preview for me.
Arranging for the girls to meet Justin Bieber and the cast of “iCarly” was an over-the-top experience. And let’s not forget taking them to “Dancing With the Stars” the night before “iCarly.” Being able to see the smiles on their faces and how awestruck they were was really awesome.
For me, maybe meeting the Rolling Stones would be comparable, but I am not sure meeting anyone for me would come close to their Bieber moment. The really cool thing was we knew Justin was supporting Whitney Elementary here in town through an Ellen DeGeneres introduction, and one of the girls gave him a $5,000 check to give to the school, which gave her a very special moment with him.
Our new charitable giving initiative (where the Bieber donation dollars came from) is one of the things we are really enjoying at Gold & Silver Pawn. We allocate funds each month to one or more charities here in Las Vegas and support everyone from Opportunity Village to military charities, from Help of Southern Nevada to JDRF, from Susan G. Komen to the Justin Timberlake Shriner’s Open, from Tiger Jam to Three Square, from St. Baldrick’s to the Girl Scouts, from Speedway Children’s Charities to the American Heart Association, and everyone in between, including the Clark County Museum (Mark Hall Patton -- our expert’s workplace!), gets a little help because of our success and our wanting to pay it back, if you will.
We even found out through our Facebook fans that they had charities they needed help with, and now we are giving to charities our Facebook fans suggest each month, too (these are anywhere in the U.S.). Friend us on Facebook at GSPawn.com to get your charity on our radar, and help us reach our goal of 1 million Facebook fans -- we have a long way to go (we just reached our immediate goal of 100,000!).
Life and business are good -- what more could we ask for at the pawnshop? We just signed on for another 80 episodes, got to be the grand marshals at a NASCAR race, saw “The Old Man” get a key to the city where he was born (trivia question -- do you know where that is? -- see the end of the story), and I have a new home and blended family and a wedding somewhere in the future.
All of us are losing weight -- I think the Harrisons (Old Man, Corey and I) have lost more than 200 pounds combined at this writing), the pawn store has more than 5,000 customers a day, we sell more than $3 million in T-shirts each year, and we have a staff of more than 50, which gets better every day.
Speaking of our staff, they are the true heroes behind “Pawn Stars.” Without them, the whole place would fall apart. And even with so much more business, fun is still the most important part of every day in our dysfunctional world.
Thanks to all of our fans and everyone in Las Vegas for embracing and supporting our success. By the way, Lexington, N.C., is where Richard Benjamin (“The Old Man”) Harrison was born.
Check out our other guest column later today from nightclub czar Jesse Waits of Tryst and XS at Steve Wynn’s hotels and Wednesday look for our guest columns from Donny Osmond and Myron Martin.
Robin Leach has been a journalist for more than 50 years and has spent the past decade giving readers the inside scoop on Las Vegas, the world’s premier platinum playground.
Follow Robin Leach on Twitter at Twitter.com/Robin_Leach.
Follow Vegas DeLuxe on Twitter at Twitter.com/vegasdeluxe.
Follow VDLX Editor Don Chareunsy on Twitter at Twitter.com/VDLXEditorDon.
These guys started from scratch and I respect their business acumen. Good luck to his future marriage.
Awesome to see this local business do so well. And you can't forget all of the local experts (in addition to the charities) who have been helped tremendously by the show.
Excellent all the way around.
Can the old man get his teeth fixed? They are raking in millions..take care of your health, teeth included.
I applaud these guys for their success but they also stepped in a bit of sh*t (luck).
4 high school dropouts is not something you want people to emulate or praise. If it was 5 years ago we would not be telling Chumlee and Corey to work in the pawn shop. We would be telling them to get off the meth, finish high school, get some training/skill and go from there. They are where they are on the back of Rick.
Congratulations on your success!!! I watched Rick, Chum and Corey at the Reno Airport while awaiting a very early flight back to Vegas. It was obvious they'd been up late, with possibly little sleep. They were constantly approached by well meaning folks who wanted an autograph or just to chat them up. They were accommodating and gentlemen to ALL. Seem like solid guys to me... GOOD FOR YOU!!!!
So will Chumley be the best man or the ring bearer?
I've really enjoyed watching the show. It's amazing how different the clientele are here in Vegas compared to the show Hardcore Pawn (filmed in Detroit). Two shows about the same type of business, but worlds apart. Keep it going guys.
Rick Harrison is going to marry Justin Bieber? What the hell?
Darth: Ya big differance between Pawn Stars and Hardcore Pawn. Consider the clientele...
saw old man at target. Very nice guy he was with his wife and they were buying gifts for the family. a whole cart full!! He got 2 slices of pizza at the cafe there. shows you how normal they all are and not all special. love em all.
Sounds like TomD is a little jealous of the pawn star guys. Little mad that they are making big money from their shop while you have to sell your things at one?
Aloha Rick and the boys of Pawn Stars! When you all have time, please come visit us here in Hawaii. I do web work for a bike club here, and you will all be supplied with loaner bikes. Please come and spend a week in Honolulu, enjoy a great luau, some great scenery, and ride 'round the Island gratis!
All the best,
China Mike
email: chinamike "/\t h0t/\/\ail d0t C0/\/\"
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