ATMORE, AL - All the financial news is not bad...One upside to high gas prices and consumer uncertainty is people who live in small towns are staying home and shopping locally more than ever before.

Channel Three's Kathryn Daniel takes us to Atmore, Alabama -- a town of about 8-thousand.

Merchants there say as Wall Street crashes -- Main Street thrives...Here is their story.

Glenn Helton is carrying on a 50 year family tradition.

Glenn Helton/Helton Service Center; "My father started this business is 1958."

Helton says sales are good very steady. He works hard to diversify his inventory...He offers everything from appliances to pistols.

Glenn Helton; "The lady of the house gets what she wants and the husband says well, you got a washer, I need a rifle, it works both ways."

Joe brown says it's the small touches that work free gift wrapping and engraving.

Brown says he noticed a sales spike just as soon as gas prices soared.

Joe Brown/Country Charms; "Actually our per person sales are up, our traffic counts are up, the dollar per person is up, and we're real happy with that."

Brown says after five decades in retail he is deliberately aggressive in stocking the latest trends.

He says Atmore may have last century values but local buyers still demand modern merchandise.

Joe Brown; "It's just the opposite of what everybody is saying, recession, recession, recession. Hey, we're having a good time."

Carl Anderson is another longtime Atmore retailer...The Tot Shop's been around since 1948.

He's seeing more local traffic than ever and he, too, as a consumer, is changing his habits.

Carl Anderson; "When you grow up in Atmore, running to Mobile and Pensacola is just part of what you do, but now you think about it a little bit before you do it."

Anderson says he anticipated the turndown a few years ago -- and changed his sales strategy with that in mind...It's working.

Glenn Helton says he feels a little bit insulated on Main Street America -- and he figures why change a half century of success?

Glenn Helton; "I love a small town, always have, wouldn't live anywhere else."Main Street America