“It doesn’t stop. Our pawnshop has to receive a hundred customers a day,” says the director of Crédit Municipal de Besançon, Françoise Henriot-Donier, who “has never seen this”.
Since the start of the school year in September, customers have flocked to 17 avenue Cusenier to pawn their valuables. “We have a 20% increase in this activity, which we provide in addition to our banking and personal loan services,” she continues.
New individuals have joined the traditional customers, including many border workers who have problems paying bills and filling the fridge. “People don’t hide it, their use of pawnshops is directly linked to inflation, the sharp increase in taxes or to…