How one man helped resuscitate the Pawnshop Business
It is an ambitious plan, but for Paul Ulric Giddings, nothing is impossible. The businessman is planning to lead the way in transforming Charlestown, a city ward, into a flourishing area that will rival Regent Street and Sheriff Street as centres of commerce.
He returned home from the US, opting to build Guyana, when many were looking to leave.
Already, Giddings, or “Sarge” as he is known to those around him, has made significant strides in making that happen. He has established the eye-catching Hotel Princess Raven, on Smyth Street, and has started work that will see the construction of an 18-apartment complex, complete with elevator and the works, right in Charlestown.
But Giddings is more known in Guyana for being the man that engineered the resurgence of pawnshops back in the mid-90’s.
His military background in the US and deep discipline learnt the hard way from an impoverished early life, have all laid the foundation.
Today, the father of three is a self-made man who followed his dreams, blazing his own trails, using discipline and his drive for success to lead the way.
Giddings Payday Pawnshop has become a household name.
Giddings was not born into money. As a matter of fact, he was a school dropout whose early life forced him to start working from a tender age.
The fourth of five children- two boys and three girls- Giddings recalled attending Freeburg Primary School until form three, when he stopped going altogether. He never wrote any exams. He remembers living on Regent Street and Hadfield Street. “I didn’t follow much of the school because I was bent on working. I was always a hard worker. I used to leave school when I was about 12 years old…in the afternoon with my needle, and go up to the rice marketing board in Kingston with a group of people hoping that I would be chosen to sew rice bags.” The work was from 15:00 to 23:00 hours.
What made it even more difficult for the family was the fact that Giddings belonged to a single parent home. His father, Ulric, a wharf worker, was living not far away with a family of his own. His mother, Elaine, was a housekeeper who worked in upscale Bel Air.
“My life made me strong- it taught me that hard work pays off.”
Working at 13
At just 13, an enterprising Giddings in 1974 was working full time at a place called Nifty on North Road, as a store room clerk bagging ice cream.
He also recalls working at the Beharry Bakery on Hadfield Street, helping to sell. The bakery was, of course, owned by the prominent Beharry family. Testimony to his upbringing was Giddings’s pride of growing up in a neighbourhood that was truly Guyanese. It was a true mix. “I grew up in an Indian background -the Beharry family nurtured me.”
The businessman has vivid recollections of his mother, struggling to make ends meet, working at a city restaurant. He would go and wait until her work was finished around 22:00 hours. He was about 11-years-old. “We never had our own place… we used to live by family. We were a poor family.”
It was in 1969 that his eldest sister, Myrtle, migrated to the US. It was not difficult back then for families to migrate. “It was my elder sister who broke the poverty line for us and give us all a break.”
Five years after leaving Guyana, Giddings’s sister came back in 1974 and demanded that he return to school. “It was a must if I wanted to go the US. It was then that I decided to quit Nifty. At that time I used to work for eight dollars an hour. I used to give my mom half and used the rest to buy clothing.”
The 13-year-old went back to school but found that the going was tough. “I decided to drop out again. I wanted money and I had a cousin living next to me at that time who used to captain a trawler with the Guyana Marines Food which was based in King Street.”
At just 14, a young Giddings went out to sea, spending up to six weeks at a time wih his cousin. “Then I was getting paid big bucks and I liked that. I was hardworking. I was forced to be that way by the life I was given and I wanted betterment.”
At 15, a quickly maturing Giddings became a striker, running the trawler. This meant that he was charged with the heavy responsibility of running the vessel from midnight to 06:00 hours, while the rest of the crew was sleeping. “I loved this job and it molded me into a hard worker and my mom would control the money to ensure I spend wisely.”
He spent two more years working on the trawler until October 30, 1977, when his documents to migrate to the US came through. “Going to America back in those days was a big thing and we stayed in Brooklyn and I told my sister I wanted to work.”
However, his sister was adamant that he return for his high school diploma.
Again, Giddings found school life hard. It was not so much for the studies but because he was working, resulting in numerous classes being missed. He was working a 3-11 job in a huge factory pricing clothing and separating garments.
“I worked there from 1977 to 1979 throughout my high school days. I also worked part-time jobs although I was doing full time school. My sister gave me a break but I wanted to make sure I held my end, so I worked.”
The extended family was on welfare so times were difficult. “My last part-time job was pulling clothes horses through the streets from the factory to a customer, using the pavements. It was tricky. I also did some painting and mason work.”
A Marine
It was in the US that Giddings managed to follow his childhood dream…to become a US Marine. “I was sitting on a bridge in Russell Street, in Charlestown in 1972 reading an article about the US Marine Corps in Korea and I said to myself that I like this.”
In 1971 when the recruiters came calling at his Newark, New Jersey school, Giddings was ready, but he had not yet graduated. Determined, he pursued his diploma and months later joined the US Marine Corps.
He was fortunate to snatch the job he wanted…as a small arms repairman. “When you do something that you love you tend to give your best and I was happy.”
A disciplined Giddings quickly caught the eye of his superiors and he moved up fast. After training and a visit to Guyana in 1980, the young Guyanese saw himself reporting for duty in Japan. He was ahead of his class in almost all the disciplines.
He was not afraid to carry around his Guyana flag. Two months after being stationed in Japan, he was asked to report to the Promotion Board where he was promoted. “The Marines is part of the US Army and if I had sons I would have encouraged them to join. Today my success is because of the Marines… it has molded me into a gentleman.”
Giddings’ love for Guyana saw him returning every time he was granted leave. He was also, true to his inborn enterprising ways, looking for business opportunities.
Soon, he was up for a Meritorious Promotion and of the 14 other Marines, Giddings was the one that was successful. “I was asked 14 questions and as I walked out they called me back and said you aced the questions…They asked me why I think that I should promoted out of the 15 Marines for Lance Corporal position. I told them because I am the best PFC (Private First Class) on the whole entire base. I got my stripe seven months ahead of time.”
It was but an indication of a man filled with the confidence of life.
In June of 1982, the Marine met his first wife from North Carolina and it seems like Lady Luck was smiling on him. He was made Corporal and two years later became a Sergeant.
In September, he married and soon, Cynteah Giddings, was born. He also has another daughter, Jahteah Acrite.
In 1984, after the Marine offered a US$50,000 lump-sum payment for persons willing to re-enlist for another five years, Giddings grabbed the opportunity. He was doing something he loved and had a chance to make money. “As I said, my job was a small arms weapons repair man and marksmanship instructor and there I ran one of the biggest military armories where I had under me about 15 troops.”
At the army base, Giddings with his antennas up, looking for an opportunity, saw that there were many West Indians on the base. He came up with the idea of the “West Indian and American Food Store”. “I would go to the Bronx on the weekends and bring back cassava, yams and eddoes.”
He was making money, and steady money at that. Giddings loved cars. In the beginning he bought a 1979 Monte Carlo. On re-enlisting, he used some of the money paid by the Marines to buy a new 1984 Honda. With his side business of provisions, he was able to trade it in and soon acquired a cherry red 1985 Honda Prelude, much to the jealousy of other Marines on the base. “Eventually I traded it for a BMW. I took out like four credit cards and I worked hard and I took the initiative to do things. I didn’t just sit and watch. I grasped opportunities, but most of all I worked honestly and that’s how I continued for years to come.”
It was while he was stationed at a base in Kentucky, that he heard about the payday loans. It was where persons could pledge valuables and other securities, acquire a loan and pay back the monies at a later date or on payday. “I said to myself Guyana doesn’t have anything like this.”
The idea played around in the head of Giddings and in 1995, after his stint in the Marines, he made up his mind. “I said to the family, I am going home. I am going to Guyana to give it a try with this pay day loan business also known as a pawn shop.”
Giddings went to withdraw his money from the US bank and to his consternation, it had none. His hopes dashed, Giddings was forced to look at other opportunities. He was determined to go back to Guyana and launch his pawnshop.
In Guyana, he met up with the female manager of Aqua Beach Hotel in Barbados. He was offered a good paying job at an airline flying from Margarita to London as the Chief Security Officer.
“I never liked Barbados, so after a while I felt as if it was the military again. I married the Aqua Beach manager. But after about six months I said I don’t want to be here. I left America for my country and I should be there.”
Pawnshop
In November 1996, he flew home and launched his pawnshop. “When I came to Guyana I had nothing much, but my wife from Barbados and some friends helped out like Dexter Luther from Luther Pawn Shop, White Castle Fish Shop, Roger Gilgeous from Stereosonic. They were all a part of the pawn shop when I launched it. Roger even sold one of his big motor bikes to help with funds.”
It was a simple operation at 34 King Street. Almost two decades later, Giddings still has the briefcase that he used to take from home to work with the valuables left. “The first shop I opened was located in 34 King Street. The pawnshop basically took care of itself. What happen is that people would bring their jewels and pawn it. I would give them money and they would repay with interest. After I realized that it was a successful venture, I started to tell my family from abroad that the business was good and asked them to finance me.”
With many families needing money for the new school year in September, the lines were long at Giddings. He sometimes ran out of money to pay the customers. “Eventually my brother and brother-in-law, cousins, uncles…they all started to invest money in the business and then some of my friends started to invest money and eventually the office got too small and it was in 1997 when I moved to 54 Robb Street.”
At that time, there were no other pawnshops around. Giddings did not like the Robb Street location. He wanted Regent Street, the hub of activities in the city. His business at Robb Street was growing in leaps and bounds. The name Giddings Payday was a household one.
He got his opportunity for Regent Street when businessman Mokesh Daby had his property there vacant. “But people discouraged me and said don’t rent there. People don’t last long.”
A determined Giddings was not to be stopped. “I went on and rented the place and eventually Mokesh offered me the place to buy. He said pay me the money every month instead of a rent and that was how I eventually owned the building in Regent Street.”
But Giddings did not like competition. When competitors moved in on Robb Street, he went back to his former place of business there and launched Trustees Pawnshop.
“I came back with lower rates.” Giddings then started his aggressive expansions. After 2004, he opened branches at Vreed-en-Hoop and Parika on the West Demerara, and at McDoom and Grove, on the East Bank of Demerara. He also launched an office at Mon Repos, East Coast Demerara.
Business was doing well. But Giddings started taking blows after staffers were discovered doing their own thing, using the business to take customers’ stuff and paying out of their own pockets. He was forced to close the branches, except for Vreed-en-Hoop.
“The business was great, but when you have a business it is important to have loyal and honest staff and eventually I had to start downsizing because of the lack of trustworthy staff.
“I once carried a huge loss where a staffer stole about $6M worth from my Robb Street branch. After an offer from the manager of the Robb Street branch, Giddings handed over that operation. “Eventually I closed down Mon Repos and Grove after a staff staged a robbery.”
According to Giddings, the pawnshop business has proven extremely profitable. “I am not ungrateful…everything that I have managed to own is because of the pawn shop business. It was me who resurrected the pawnshop business in Guyana. It was dead until Giddings came on scene. Giddings is a household name now.”
Today, there are more than 50 pawnshops around the country. He also launched Giddings Kiddies Corner, a venture he said was the first exclusive children clothing store in Guyana.
“I did it in a boutique format and then I also ventured promotions bringing artists to Guyana. We brought Elephant Man on September 19, 2002 and then TOK on September 20, 2004. It was one of the biggest shows at Thirst Park.”
But Giddings’ main focus remained the pawnshop business.
“Some of the many challenges I faced were not getting good people to work with. Sometimes you would sit down and brainstorm how to make your business profitable while there are people brainstorming how to rob you.”
Giddings took a personal interest in training staffers to ensure the right carat gold is measured. His military training helped. He managed to implement systems that quickly picked up discrepancies. “So what happen is, I didn’t just start a business. I got smart with it and throughout the years that is what helped me to be successful. In the pawnshop business you have to have eyes all over. Sometimes staffers would walk with their own money and bought gold from customers instead of running it through the business. So I had to do spot checks at all the locations, but eventually it got tough. So I had no choice but to close a few of them so now I am operating from the Regent Street branch.”
Hotel Venture
Giddings from his Regent Street operations was casting his eyes elsewhere. He managed to acquire a piece of property on Smyth Street, a main road from Brickdam. On it was an old cottage. “The initial idea was to do a dry cleaner because I didn’t think that Guyana had any where that offered a decent service to the people. I was worried about the quality of staffers, as people’s clothing had to be taken care of just like jewelry and I didn’t want that problem.”
He eventually, after deep thought, research and consultations, came up with the idea of a hotel. “I said that I wanted something with class and I thought about the hotel.”
It took Giddings about four years to get the hotel constructed. His bankers were happy to finance the hotel. “I got a good relationship with the bank. I always paid what I owed and I believed in making an honest living. I am a smart businessman. While we could have had more rooms, I chose to do less because, while business is good now, it might not always be the same and I think that it’s better to have 11 rooms and all are taken than to have 50 and only 10 are in use.”
Hotel Princess Raven, named after Giddings’s last daughter Raven, was opened just over a year ago on Smyth Street. “We are hooked up with booking.com and they handle almost 75 percent of the guests from overseas.”
Across the street from Hotel Princess Raven, lies one of the city’s oldest buildings. Giddings has managed to acquire that property too. And he has big plans for it.
“I am right now working on my apartment complex which will host 18 apartments…it will be Guyana’s first apartment complex with an elevator.”The businessman insists that he is a behind-the-scenes man, never really liking the spotlight. “Although I had businesses all over, nobody ever knew who I was. I was never an stagefront person. I was always the enforcer. I still am. My brain ticks all the time with possibilities and I work very hard. I can work day in and day out. I spend most of my time at the office than at home.” Giddings said that his success lies in the work discipline he developed and a steady support from his family.
He has managed to pay off all his original financiers. However, his brother and other relatives have remained as close advisors.
On the walls of his office at his hotel, there is a prominent place for the photographs of Malcolm X and Martin Luther King. “Why? Because I had a dream and it came true. Even when I was in the army I used to come Guyana every year and I believe this was my destiny. I love my country. I worked hard all my life and I think I achieved what I wanted to do in life, from a poor fatherless boy working late hours to make ends meet to a striker on a trawler to a marine to the owner of businesses.”
Giddings has grown wise from his businesses. “I believe if you work hard, hold fast and strong to your dreams, anything is possible. It might not always work out picture perfect but hard work pays off. The only regret I have is that I wish I had about six sons. I am proud of my three daughters. The reason for me saying I wish I had sons is that I wish to have Giddings Payday Pawnshop to remain for years to come, to have my boys carry on.”
His stint in the US Marines has remained ingrained in his work regimen. Exercise has remained a major part of his routine, with healthy eating a top priority.“In life, it is always good to have a plan and other backup plans as well, and it is very important to stick with your plans, goals and dreams. Always follow them and be motivated to do better. Motivation plays a very important role on how successful a person can be. Also, what I have learnt over the years is that honesty has a lot to do with how far you will get in a business. Don’t ever allow your focus to slip away. Never say to yourself that I cannot do this or it is impossible. Go for it. Give it your best shot. I prefer to try and fail than fail to try.”