Yossi Dina

The 64-year-old Dina has carved out a niche by merging the classic pawn shop model—providing easy loans using precious items as collateral and selling bargain-priced secondhand goods on the showroom floor—with the look and feel of a high-end luxury retailer. Dina offers something more traditional stores cannot: a collection of unique, one-of-a-kind goods. Cartier doesn’t have Ray Charles’ sunglasses; you won’t find Elvis’ 14k gold watch at Tiffany’s. But The Dina Collection has both. Born in Israel, he spent time on a kibbutz, a communal settlement, then served in the Israeli army. In 1981, at age 27, he came to the United States, hitching a ride from New York to Los Angeles. He got his start hawking cheap jewelry door-to-door before saving up enough to open up his own shop. Soon he began to extend loans to people who needed money but were reluctant to sell off their beloved items. He decided to do a TV show, something he says he had been rejecting for years. “Beverly Hills Pawn” ran for seven seasons on Reelz, with Dina hobnobbing with celebrities on camera and cutting deals for everything from a brooch owned by Elizabeth Taylor to light sabers used in Star Wars. It gave his business a much-needed boost. The show ended two years ago, but Dina remains interested in resurrecting it if he can find the right network.