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Construction workers are pawning tools

WILMINGTON -- When it comes to the slow economy, businesses large and small are suffering.

And that's certainly true in the construction field, and you can see evidence of that inside your local pawn shop.

At Pawn U.S.A. off Carolina Beach Road, the shelves offer the usual variety of merchandise, but the owners say the tools are overflowing.  In general they have about four times the amount of construction merchandise.

Construction workers are trying to turn the tools of the trade into money.

According to the store manager, it's just another sign of hard times.  He says they're pawning their tools to make ends meet.

The store manager says the only way to hammer out the problem is to keep building, but people are keeping a tight grip on their money.

And builder Scott Gales can attest to that.

"It's tragic that people that are professionals are having to go to other avenues of work," said Gales.

Gales owns The Becker Builder Supply Company off Carolina Beach Road. 

When times got tough last year, he got creative by selling to the public and not just tradesmen.  While that saved him, not everyone is staying afloat.

Both the pawn store manager and the builder agree that contractors need to hang in there like everyone else.

Reported by Kristy Ondo

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