Oquirrh Traders, a Tooele City pawn shop owned by Dan Mosteller, will close its doors on June 26 after 26 years of trading on Tooele’s Vine Street.
Mosteller, 64, who came to Tooele from Arizona to work in Anaconda’s Carr Fork Mine, opened the pawn shop in 1988 in a building he bought at 14 W. Vine Street.
It was his passion for guns that drew Mosteller into the pawn business as a second job.
An avid gun collector, with a soft spot for the 32-40 Winchester rifle, Mosteller declined to declare how many guns he owns, but did admit to having over 50 guns in two large safes at home.
“I already had my federal firearms license when I opened the shop,” he said. “I was selling guns for friends and at gun shows. I needed a way to earn extra cash to buy guns for my collection.”
Traveling to gun shows in Utah, Mosteller was intrigued by dealers that were selling guns for far less than what he thought they were worth. After a few inquiries, Mosteller learned about pawn shops.
“I said to myself, ‘I’ve got to get me a pawn shop so I can get guns for cheap,’” he said.
While guns bring in a lot of money, the best seller in the pawn shop are tools, according to Mosteller.
“We sell more tools than anything,” he said. “We’ve had to get picky. When the recession started, there were a lot of people coming in trying to pawn tools. At one point, we had 40 jig saws. Now we only take brand name tools in good condition.”
Mosteller said people knew he was patient about selling pawned items before their owner could reclaim them.
“If they asked for more time before we sold an item, we would wait,” he said. “We were in the business to provide cash for people with an unexpected need. Maybe a relative passed away and they needed to buy a plane ticket. I would take the item and hold on to it, and after the next payday, they would come in and buy it back.”
Oquirrh Traders has not only helped individuals strapped for cash, but has also helped local businesses with cash flow needs, according to Mosteller.
“I had a local contractor come in and pawn a front-end loader and a couple other pieces of machinery for $35,000,” Mosteller said. “He needed cash to start his next project. He came back and reclaimed his stuff.”
When Mosteller started out 26 years ago, most transactions were pawns, a loan of cash in exchange for an item that the shop held for a period of time. When the time was up the customer would buy back his item, pay interest, and take his item home, or the pawn shop sold the item to pay the debt.
“Back then only about 5 percent of the business was items that we bought outright, knowing the customer was not coming back for it,” he said. “Today, buying instead of pawning, makes up around 40 percent of our business.”
Some strange deals have been made at Mosteller’s shop on Vine Street.
“The strangest thing I recall was a lady that came in with a can full of $45 in nickels, dimes, and quarters,” he said. “She wanted $20 for the can, so I gave it to her. She came back later and bought the can back and then came in some time later with the same can and wanted another $20. Why she didn’t just take it out of the can, I don’t know.”
Gold teeth are one of the more unusual items Mosteller has accepted at his pawn shop. He sells them for scrap.
In the realm of rare items, Mosteller has seen coins from the Mercur mine in Tooele County come across his counter for pawning.
Oquirrh Traders has expanded its size several times over the last 26 years, taking over more space on Vine Street as well as opening Westside Shooting Sports at 11 N. Main Street for two years.
“I eventually brought the guns back over here and rented out the other space,” he said.
When Mosteller first opened Oquirrh Traders, he had already been laid off from Anaconda, but had picked up work at the Chemical Lime plant in Grantsville. His wife, Glenda, did the bookkeeping for the shop and ran the store during the day until Dan got off work.
“My wife retired a year ago,” he said. “I was supposed to retire at 55, so I’m late.”