A lifelong resident of Seymour, Lara Maranville has taken the fundamentals of a craft that she learned from her late father and expanded on it to the point of opening two thriving businesses in Sevier County.
Maranville, a 1982 graduate of Seymour High School, opened Sevier Pawn and Loan at 10201 Chapman Highway in Seymour earlier this year. In the pawn business for 10-years, Maranville’s first venture was her store in 1998 on 112 Court Avenue in downtown Sevierville.
Both stores are in their annual Christmas rush and Maranville says that she will loan on anything of value whether it be guns, tools, gold, diamonds, musical instruments, etc.
She says that she has even loaned money on a deer mount ($60), in what was, by her own admission, her most bizarre barter.
Maranville says that she started learning the business from her late father, Clyde, who passed away four-years ago.
“I worked for my father in the horse trade business,” she stated. “He and I did that for 30-years. We traded on anything; mostly goats, horses and cattle, and I learned everything I know from my dad.
“One of the most important things I learned was to do what you say and stand by what you say. Be a person of you word, do what you say you’re going to do and be as honest as you can be.”
Maranville said that guns, gold and diamonds are her most common trade, and that her businesses specialize in quick, easy loans.
“It don’t take two or five days like it does at a bank,” she adds. “We specialize in fast loans”
She says that with the rapid growth of the Seymour area, opening a pawnshop in her hometown wasn’t really a shot in the dark.
“I was proud to open up in Seymour on October 7th,” she stated. “I just felt like there was a need for a small loan establishment in the area. We felt that the rapid expansion of Seymour and the new businesses that are coming to town, and the population growing like it is, there was a need for this type of business.”
She says that the new store is doing just fine in its first three months.
“It’s going to make it,” she said. “The business has really taken off. We’re looking forward to having our gun license so we start offering hunting rifles, shotguns and pistols.”
Maranville said that prices are set by researching similar items on the Internet or just going to Wal-Mart and matching prices. She said that the store in Sevierville also loans on car titles.

… read the rest of the story by Subscribing now.

... read the rest of the story by Subscribing now.