While no sales records are falling at Fall River Pawnbrokers’ 12 locations, the stores may be their cleanest ever.

Sales are down. Loans are down. No shock there with the COVID-19 crisis. The good news? “I’m keeping everyone working,” said owner and founder Aaron Tetrault on Friday morning.

During what have often been profound waits between serving customers, the staff hasn’t been watching Hulu on their smart phones. Instead work has involved a lot of spraying and wiping and making everything look better. “A lot of cleaning and organizing,” Tetrault said.

By decree of Rhode Island Gov. Gina Raimondo, pawn shops in the Ocean State can only loan money; no sales are allowed.

In Massachusetts, the entire pawn broker business has been deemed essential, so Tetrault’s crews in the Bay State are free to loan and buy and sell … if and when someone strolls into the store.

Pawn brokers operate their loan business in similar fashion to their traditional. The customer’s pawn items – electronics, jewelry, musical instruments, firearms are popular – are used as collateral. The shop can sell the item only if the customer defaults on the loan.

The negative aspect of pawn shop loans are high interest rates (often in the form of fees). The upside is there can be no damage done to one’s credit rating and the needed money is almost instantly in hand.

But those who thought the economic woes caused by lockdown and social distancing and crippled business activity would create lines for quick money at pawn shops were wrong.

“Loans are way down. Sales are almost null and void,” Tetrault said. “We’re just hanging in there.”

Fall River Pawnbrokers has three locations in Fall River, two in New Bedford, one in Taunton, five in Rhode Island, and one in New London, Conn.

Email Greg Sullivan at gsullivan@heraldnews.com. Follow him @GregSullivanHN.