December 14, 2023
STREET VIEW/GOOGLE MAPS
Society Hill Loan, a pawn shop that has operated at Seventh and South streets since 1929, was raided by federal agents and Philadelphia police as part of a retail theft investigation.
A longtime fixture of the South Street shopping scene was raided Wednesday by federal agents.
Society Hill Loan, a pawn shop that has operated at Seventh and South streets since 1929, was searched by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and Philadelphia police as part of an investigation into a nationwide retail theft ring, according to 6ABC.
Homeland Security agents were seen removing cardboard boxes marked with the word "evidence" from the pawn shop and loading them into trucks to be hauled away. Federal officials also reportedly went to two other pawn shops –one on Kensington Avenue in Philadelphia and another in Wilmington, Delaware – as part of the same investigation.
As of Thursday morning, the items seized were unknown, other than some power tools that were captured by news cameras that filmed the raid. DHS has declined to say whether the store's owners are facing charges or explain what prompted the raid.
With its bright yellow exterior and neon signage in the window, Society Hill Loan is a South Street staple. The pawn shop, which carries a multitude of guitars and other musical instruments along with a variety of other pre-owned goods, has become a popular destination for musicians over the years. Photos on the store's Instagram page show rock musicians like Alice Cooper, Kurt Vile and members of Roxy Music visiting the pawn shop.
The pawn shop also has maintained an active online presence through its eBay storefront, which was disabled as of Thursday morning.
Retail theft has been an issue of growing concern in Philadelphia. Though homicide and other violent crimes have been on the decline, there has been a 28.5% year-over-year increase in reports of retail theft in the city, according to the most recent data from the Philadelphia Police Department. There have been more than 17,200 incidents of retail theft reported so far this year.
