Keysville Family Pawn, located at 9001 Church St., opened its doors Feb. 1 with a guiding principle of ethics.

The store’s owner, 32-year-old Jamie Headley, stressed the store’s slogan, “small town, big values.”

“My mom preaches, and like I said, you can actually do this business and not (cheat people),” Headley said. “You can say your shirt’s worth that much, I can give you this much and if it sells for more, I’ll give you a little more down the road type of thing.”

Headley said to prove that something is pawned, you don’t have to be crooked or lie to people, which he said was the same with any business.

Headley said he wasn’t in business to make mounds of money.

“I’m here (to) make $30,000, see my son play baseball and make my mom and dad proud,” Headley said.

That’s how the pawn shop started, he said.

Seven years ago, Headley started selling cars and thought about how he always fixed things, which led him to consider working at a pawn shop for the first time.

“I volunteered to work at a place. (The owner) paid me $4 an hour; this was seven years ago,” Headley said.

He said he started fixing cars and sweeping floors before becoming an eBay manager and running one of the stores before coming to Keysville.

Headley said he liked to go to towns and help those who live there.

“It sounds crazy. You think it’d be a money backing, but it’s not at all,” Headley said.