History of California Loan & Jewelry Co., Inc.

California Loan & Jewelry Co., Inc. was originally founded in 1909 by William and Joe Anapolsky. They were twin brothers who also had four brothers and one sister.




The original name of the store then was New York Store and it was located on 3rd Street between J and K Street. William and his wife Ida had two boys, Solomon born in 1914, and Milton in 1919.

The beginning concept of the business in 1909 was to sell basic merchandise to the local residents. The items in those days included clothing, jewelry,guns, hats, suit cases, trucks and musical instruments. Business stayed the same until they began to make collateral loans in the early 1940's. In 1947 Joe passed away, and six months later his twin brother William passed away. When William died his sons Sol and Milton decided to come into the business. It was at this time they changed the name of the business to California Loan & Jewelry Co. and the store was moved to 409 K Street in 1949.


With the change in management, new ideas were soon implemented. Sol and Milton were creative and very good salesmen. They saw that making loans was the way to increase revenues for the business. The store also changed its retail image. Jewelry became the biggest sales item.


Milton Anapolsky died in 1952 at the young age of 32 and Sol continued the business with the aid of his new partner, his wife Bernice. The store location moved over the years as a result of redevelopment. In the mid 1950's the store went to 511 K Street. In Early 1960 the store moved to 607 J Street. It was in this location that the store had its first major disaster. In 1963 a major fire almost completely destroyed the business. Most of the entire inventory was destroyed and most of the non-jewelry items had the same fate.

At this time Sol and Bernice bought 916 J Street and completely remodeled the building to their specifications. This is our present location which has seen necessary improvements over the years.

Sol and Bernice had a daughter Ellyce, and two sons, Warren and Larry. Larry knew he wanted to be in the family business by the time he was in high school, and upon graduation he started to work full time in the business while attending Sacramento City College. After one year he knew his future was to work in the business and he then stopped his college career. Warren attended the University of Arizona and graduated in 1971. He moved back to Sacramento unsure of what he wanted to do. He worked in a local jewelry store for a year and then he tried selling real estate for a year. It was during this experience that he realized that he wanted to join the family business. It was in 1973 that California Loan & Jewelry Co. had a true family partnership. In 1974 the store was incorporated. California Loan & Jewelry has been fortunate to have great employees over the years.  In 2000 Earl Dempsey was hired and has had a tremedous impact on the success of the business since then.

Sol passed away in 1979 and the business again underwent a change in management. Even though Bernice was an active worker and controlled 51% of the stock, Larry became chief financial officer and leader of the store. Under Larry's leadership California Loan & Jewelry Co., Inc. grew ahead of the competition. With increasing the loan portfolio and retail sales, acquiring Milt Levinson's loan business and starting New York Loan, and eliminating guns from both loans and retail sales, California Loan & Jewelry Co., Inc. has become the leading pawnshop in Sacramento and the surrounding area.

Bernice Anapolsky died in February 1999. Larry and Warren will continue the tradition started by their grandfather in 1909 and continued by their parents. Their goal is to continue to see their business grow. In 1998 they acquired the building next door at 912 J Street. They remodeled the front building and started a new venture, Advance Check Cashing.

Larry and Warren are very proud to be the 3rd generation of this same family run business that began in 1909.   The same philosophy used 100 years ago.....protect the integrity of
the store, always being honest with customers, and treat all people the way that we would want to be treated.....will insure the second hundred years of business will be as successful as the first hundred years.  Today Larry and Warren do business with 3rd and 4th gernerations customers. This is the highest compliment to them that customer's children and then their children come to them to do business.

Thank you for your interest in California Jewelry and Loan.

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