Consultants

Jerry Whitehead, Founder & Senior Strategic Advisor

Jerry Whitehead is the founder of Pawnshop Consulting Group, LLC. After selling his remaining pawnshop operations in Florida, Jerry formally established PCG in 2001 to provide experienced, independent consulting services to pawnshop owners and organizations worldwide.

A second-generation pawnbroker, Jerry began working in his family’s pawnshops in 1968 at eight years old. He spent weekends and summers cleaning stores, processing inventory, learning customer service, and gaining firsthand experience in nearly every aspect of pawnshop operations.

Jerry grew up in the family business, which expanded to 12 locations across the Dallas–Fort Worth area by the early 1990s. He progressed from working behind the counter as a pawnbroker to managing stores and helping lead the company’s growth and operations.

Working alongside family members, including his brother Bobby Whitehead Jr., Jerry helped modernize and computerize the stores while developing large-format “superstore” concepts that were ahead of their time in the pawn industry.

In 1983, Jerry stepped away from the family business to pursue opportunities in Maui, Hawaii, where he founded Pacific Music & Traders. The company became a leading provider of professional sound reinforcement, concert production, corporate audiovisual services, and entertainment support on the island. Jerry worked with internationally recognized performers and major events before returning to the family pawn business in 1988.

From 1988 through 1992, Jerry worked alongside key family members to continue modernizing and expanding the family business. During that period, the company explored an initial public offering—a process that ultimately contributed to the acquisition of its 12-store operation by Cash America International in late 1992.

Including the value of the associated leases, the 1992 transaction exceeded $12 million. Whitehead Investments, the controlling interest in the chain, received what was considered one of the highest acquisition multiples paid for a pawnshop chain at that time.

After returning from Maui, Jerry expanded his industry service and advocacy. He served on the Board of Directors of the Texas Pawnbrokers Association and chaired several committees. He was later appointed to the National Pawnbrokers Association Advisory Board, followed by service on its Board of Directors and Board of Trustees for approximately 18 years. From 1997 through 2001, he also served as District 1 President of the Florida Pawnbrokers Association. His international involvement has included advisory relationships with industry organizations in Mexico, Colombia, and the Philippines, as well as contributing articles to the United Kingdom’s national pawn association.

Jerry’s association leadership and international work allowed him to build an exceptional network of pawnshop owners, executives, lenders, investors, vendors, educators, and other industry professionals. These relationships have provided PCG and its clients with access to specialized knowledge, strategic resources, and opportunities throughout the global pawn industry.

Following the 1992 acquisition of the family’s pawnshop chain, Jerry became Chief Operating Officer of Doc Holliday’s Pawnbrokers and Jewelers, headquartered in Austin, Texas. Through a combination of private investment and debt financing, Jerry and the leadership team expanded the company from eight locations in one state to more than 50 stores across six states within approximately 30 months.

Doc Holliday’s also explored an initial public offering. As conditions for pawn industry IPOs changed in 1997, Jerry introduced the company to Cash America’s executive team. Cash America acquired Doc Holliday’s later that year in a corporate transaction valued at approximately $30 million, with the total value including associated leases exceeding $40 million. At the time, Doc Holliday’s was the largest privately held pawnshop chain in the United States.

Shortly before the Doc Holliday’s acquisition was completed in 1997, Jerry relocated to Florida to work with a group of investors entering the pawn and automobile title-lending industries. The group acquired several pawnshops and opened a chain of title-loan operations throughout Broward and Miami-Dade counties. Jerry later sold his remaining interests in the Florida pawn operations by 2001.

During the past 35 years, Jerry has participated in the representation, sale, or acquisition of more than 250 pawnshops. His consulting relationships began in the late 1980s and became the foundation for the formal establishment of Pawnshop Consulting Group in 2001.

Today, PCG has worked with more than 600 clients across the United States and in 45 countries worldwide. As an early pioneer in professional pawnshop consulting, Jerry built PCG into a truly global consulting organization serving independent operators, multi-store companies, investors, lenders, and industry organizations.

PCG created the pawn industry’s first Pawn Peer Focus Groups™, bringing leading operators together for financial benchmarking, best-practice exchanges, store tours, operational critiques, and continuing professional development. PCG also created the International Pawn Symposiums™, including the most recent event hosted at Atlantis Paradise Island in the Bahamas in 2025.

Jerry and PCG have also produced the Crossover EXPO™ series in cooperation with the Florida Pawnbrokers Association and developed the Pawn Management Camp™ series. These programs combine experienced industry specialists, professional education, management development, and practical operating strategies designed to elevate pawnshop performance.

PCG maintains an extensive network of experienced pawn industry professionals, specialized consultants, service providers, lenders, technology companies, and other strategic resources. This network enables PCG to assemble the appropriate expertise and support for each client’s particular operational, financial, personnel, technology, or transaction needs.

PCG specializes in single-store and multi-unit operations, financial performance analysis, management systems, team training, productivity and compensation programs, operational audits, business valuations, mergers and acquisitions, professional recruitment, marketing, technology, capitalization, strategic planning, and continuing implementation support.

A Message from Jerry

It has been—and remains—my lifelong goal to raise the standard for pawnshop consulting and continuously improve how we support our clients. Every day, our goal is to be better, make our clients better, and contribute to a stronger and more professional pawn industry. I want to leave this industry in a better place than I found it.

Explore Jerry Whitehead’s Published Works