Antique aficionados and bargain hunters have a new place to look for treasure in downtown Wareham with the opening of Gateway Gold & Pawn at 298 Main St.

"It was an empty space," said Onset resident Sara Forrest, who owns the shop with her husband Robert. "We figured we'd bring a new business to Main Street."

The shop offers a wide range of antiques, collectibles, coins, jewelry, and stamps, as well as other odds and ends. It currently has a Schwinn bicycle, likely from the 1970s, an antique Singer sewing machine, and several old documents, including a Wareham tax bill from 1898. (The property owner was taxed $21.31).

Sara is no stranger to the business. She would frequently visit her father, Dominic Cammarano, at a pawn shop he owned in Everett when she was barely tall enough to see over the store's counter, she said.

When the Main Street storefront, located in a building Cammarano owns, sat without a tenant, Sara decided to try her hand at pawning.

Cammarano watches the shop during the day while Sara works her day job at Florence Electric in Taunton.

"We felt there was a need [for a pawn shop] because of the economy," Cammarano said, adding that the store has been well-received.

The family opened the shop with various items left over from Cammarano's pawn shop days, which ended after he sold the business about a decade ago. The store has already bought, sold, and pawned numerous items.

Sara said she's been having a blast in her new role as shop-owner.

"It's an interesting business," Sara said. "You meet a lot of interesting people."

Gateway Pawn is open on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Fridays.

The shop will hand out free popcorn and offer 5 percent off all antiques and jewelry during the Swan Festival, scheduled for July 10.