Gold Rush Pawn Company was opened in June, 1980. It is the oldest locally owned and operated pawn shop in the Flathead Valley. They have a very friendly and knowledgeable staff who do their best to treat their customers right.

Gold Rush Pawn was opened by Michael and Kathy Smith in a small second hand shop across from the Rainbow Bar in Evergreen. Mike was born and raised in Great Falls and moved to the Flathead in 1972. Kathy was born in Libby, but grew up and graduated in Whitefish.

They weren’t sure they would be able to make it in business. On the first day, sales were $8.00 and purchases were $12.00. Mike wrote, “Oh, ?#@!” across that day sheet. He worked 6 days a week while Kathy worked at a local office supply store to pay the bills. They hung in there and moved 2 years later to the building just in front of the present location of 1353 Hwy 2 East, here in Kalispell. Then, a year later, they bought the building they are in now. It was just an old vehicle repair shop. It was a quonset totally open complete with oil stains on the floor. After a lot of sweat and hard work, Gold Rush was remodeled and ready to move in to.

Then, in January of 1992 the cycle department was added to the pawn and second hand business. The Kalispell Harley Davidson shop had closed up and the closest shop was in Missoula. Mike Myles joined the team as a mechanic and sales person for the cycle department. He is a graduate of MMI, specializing in Harley Davidson cycle repair. He had worked as a mechanic at the defunct Kalispell Harley shop. This gave him a job and Gold Rush a new department. Gold Rush American Motorcycle is located inside of Gold Rush Pawn and has a complete parts and accessories supply for Harley Davidson cycles. They also carry a full line of reasonably priced new and used leathers and T-shirts with our logo were added shortly after. Gold Rush had found it’s niche. Mike no longer repairs Harley’s but he still has vast knowledge of them and can help you find parts and give you advise or point you in the right direction for service. He spends much of his time in the gun department, as well as the bike department now days. He is also in management and has been with the company for 15 years. He too, is a flathead native who graduated from Flathead High School.

In June of 1994, Gwen Hopkins joined the team as a file clerk. She’d just quit a very stressful job and wanted an easy job that would pay the bills. Well, that didn’t last long. In 1996 the new face of Gold Rush was created. After an extensive remodel and addition of space, Gold Rush became what it is today. And Gwen got a promotion. Now she is our employee manager and in charge of much of the daily running of Gold Rush. She checks in and oversees the new merchandise that is ever changing. From fairies and dragons to new dresses, Gold Rush has added many new lines and Gwen gets to keep track of them. And if you need a loan on your artwork or your black powder pistol, she can handle that too. Gwen is not native to Montana, but she might as well be. She moved here in 1990.

In February of 1996, Kristeen Wolf joined the crew. She is now assistant manager and in charge of the jewelry department. Kristy has been training through the American Gemological Society to be a licensed jeweler and has vast knowledge in this department. Gold Rush is a very diverse place though, and she knows much more than just jewelry. She can tell you what your rifle is worth or your fishing pole too. And if you want to pay a pawn or pick one up, she’ll take care of it for you with a smile. Kristy is a Whitefish native who moved to Columbia Falls after High School.

Next came Pam Van Orden. The rest of the Gold Rush crew was busy buying and selling and not doing such a good job of keeping the store clean and organized and this is Pam’s specialty. She actually loves to clean! “Wow, we needed her!” So, in September of 1998, she signed on for life. She’s still cleaning and organizing and is responsible for the beautiful showroom. But, like everyone else at Gold Rush, Pam can also buy your drill or saddle. And she can find your part for your soft-tail too. Pam grew up in Kalispell and graduated from Flathead High.

We also needed some help with our messy files and a friend had just broken her ankle and didn’t know how she’d be able to work to pay her bills for awhile. Junell Gates became our new assistant bookkeeper in September of 1998. She’s walking fine and working hard now, but she still finds time to come in once a week or so to help with the book work. She too grew up in Flathead county. She graduated from Flathead high school.

Now after some really bad employee grief, Gold Rush needed someone to take care of the huge inventory of movies, cd’s and video games that were coming in daily. After some persuasion and fast talking, we were able to add Connie Norden to the team. In December of 2003, she joined full time. She knows if they have the latest copy of Bob Dylan, Troy Adkins or Snoop Dogg and she’ll watch for the new DVD release of ‘Open Season’ or the next Xbox 360 that comes in for you too. And she can also sell you a new dragon figurine or a prospecting sluice box. Connie graduated in Whitefish and lives in Columbia Falls.

In February of 2004, a former favorite employee who’d moved off to Oregon, Scott Hansen, was back in the valley and Gold Rush needed some help in the gun, tool and sporting goods department. After a little brain wracking and head banging, they were able to convince him that he needed to come back and re-join the gang. Scott is extremely knowledgeable about all kinds of firearms and he spends most of his day talking about them and haggling over them. When he really has to, he can give a loan on a diamond ring or sell you a belly button ring too. But, his heart is in those guns. Now, Scott grew up between in Washington state. He moved to Montana for the first time in 1995. After moving around a bit, he’s settled here and we hope it’s for good.

In June of 2006 they were searching for someone to help out doing whatever needed to be done around the shop - some shrink wrapping, cleaning or helping customers with Video Games and along came Joe Bennett. Joe helps on Tuesday’s and Thursday’s and gets to do all kinds of ‘fun’ things. Joe is a Kalispell native.

Gold Rush Pawn Company has become a Flathead Valley fixture. The crew is more of a family than a company and the customers are friends as well as clients. For those who need quick cash, Gold Rush Pawn has the reputation of giving a fair amount on the item you bring in, and if you really want it back, they are willing to work with you to that end. The entire crew says, “We don’t want your item if you want it back. We’d much rather have your repeated business then a one-time fast sale. If it weren’t for the people who keep coming in, we wouldn’t still be here. Next time you are looking for that birthday gift, we hope you will think of us.”

And they do their best to inform the public about the pawn business. The old cliche of ‘go to the pawn shop to sell your stolen stuff’ is just not true! If you want to get caught, this is where you come. Every employee is very diligent about checking ID’s before they take in any item to buy or to pawn or to trade, even if it’s just one cd. They work closely with the local police to stop theft. If the authorities are looking for someone or something, Mike Myles can look it up on the computer and see if they have it. And they do tell them. “We get very little stolen merchandise - less than 1/4 of 1%.”

The old myth that you get ripped off by those loan-sharks isn’t true either. Not at Gold Rush Pawn Company. “We have had countless people rush in for a $50. loan to cover a check that they had mis-calculated and it’s going to bounce! It will only cost them $10. for the loan from us. That bounced check will cost from $20-$50 at the bank.” They don’t do payday or vehicle title loans either. “We don’t want to have to repossess any vehicles or attach any wages. We’d rather you just bring in a stack of DVD’s or a rifle and we’ll just hold onto it till you get some cash. And if it doesn’t work out and you decide not to come back for them, that’s ok too and not nearly as painful. We hear every day how easy we are to deal with and we try to be that way. People tell us we’ve helped them out of many a tight spot and now they come in to buy those rifles and diamonds!”

If you haven’t been in, please stop by. Gold Rush is a pawn shop, but it’s a whole lot more. You will be pleasantly surprised.