![Pawn America store in Fridley on 9/25/13. Fridley 7-year-old Pawn Detective program solves burglaries, recovers stolen goods and covers its costs, police say. The city has a full-time Pawn Detective and is part of the Automated Pawn System used by Minneapolis and other metro cities to track and return pawned items that are stolen. Fridley's two pawn shops do more business than those in any other metro city.] Bruce Bisping/Star Tribune bbisping@startribune.com](https://arc.stimg.co/startribunemedia/26FK3SNRVMPXNPAVVBEUGGUOZA.jpg?&w=1080)
Burnsville-based Pawn America is closing three stores, including its Midway store in St. Paul, by the end of June as it restructures after filing for bankruptcy last month.
The other two pawnshops closing are in Wisconsin in Ashwaubenon and Eau Claire. The chain's 20 other stores, which are located in Minnesota, Wisconsin and the Dakotas, will remain open for business, the company said.
"The decision to close stores was not easy, but it is in the best interest of Pawn America's customers and employees going forward," Brad Rixmann, the company's president, said in a statement. "We are confronting the challenges facing our retail locations head-on in the very competitive marketplace that exists today."
Pawn America, which started with a single store in Robbinsdale in 1991, has been facing many of the same challenges as other bricks-and-mortar retailers as more consumers shift their spending online.
The company added that its online sales continue to grow.
