When the stock market is on a roller coaster and the economy is plagued with uncertainty, the business to be in is one that helps people protect what they've already got -- just ask the companies that sell safes.

California manufacturers and retailers of safes and vaults say business is up by double digits in recent months and they don't see the trend going away soon.

They cite two main reasons why people are opting to lock up tighter at home: decreased confidence in banks and fear of an increase in crime.

Miles Gilmore, an employee with Southland Safe in Corona, says he has seen more business. Customers "would specifically say, 'I don't trust the banks,' " said Drew Stowell, another employee.

"We went from getting one call a week to one call a day" about home safes, said Kelly Crouch, owner of Kelly-Adair Locksmith Service of Riverside. "My wife runs the shop and she's calling me every day wanting to know how much to install a safe."

Crouch said he doesn't have space for a safe showroom in his shop and steers people elsewhere to buy safes.

Retailers that do carry safes say concerned customers have been streaming in during the past few months.

Brian Zolnoski, CEO of Murrieta-based U.S. Safe, said his sales are up about 30 percent over the past three to four months. He recalled how one man came in recently to buy a safe after he was robbed.

"He was in the next day, and he wanted it delivered that day," Zolnoski said.

After hearing about recent bank collapses, some of Zolnoski's clients are emptying safety deposit boxes and keeping valuables at home, and others are converting cash or investments to more durable assets, such as gold and silver, he said.

Zolnoski has been in the safe business 20 years. While people tend to buy safes no matter what the economy does, the recent demand is more widespread than he has seen before.

"I've never seen this many people uneasy about the economy and just wanting to make sure that they're able to hang onto the valuables that they have," he said.

Safe dealers said some people are worried about being robbed at home, but others fear leaving their money in a place that has traditionally been considered among the safest.

Financial planner Cindi Hill said she's heard that some people want to move their money from the bank to their home, but "My take is that it's not a good idea."

The federal government insures bank deposits up to $250,000, and most personal banking customers either don't exceed that amount or can reorganize their accounts to make sure all the money is covered, Hill said.

"For me, a safe at home is just one step removed from putting money in a mattress," she said. "If it's in a bank, if it's in an interest-bearing account, at least you're going to make money on it."

Hill said aside from a few high-profile bank meltdowns, most banks are probably doing better than people think.

Community banking expert David Haden, executive director of the 100-member Community Bankers of California, said people were scared a few months ago after hearing news stories about Washington Mutual, which failed in September, but they may have calmed down since then.

"The banks in our organization, from what I hear, are not seeing any outflow of deposits due to people panicking," Haden said.

People should put their money into banks now, he suggested, "because that's going to help the country in the long run, rather than taking their money out of the bank."

But not everyone expects worried customers to heed that advice. Aaron Baker, president of San Bernardino manufacturer Cannon Safe, said the company has seen record-setting sales in seven of the past nine months. He expects another 30 percent growth next year.

"Whenever there's an economic downturn, safes tend to sell very well," Baker said.

Most of the 9,000 residential safes Cannon sells each month cost less than $900 and are about 21 to 23 cubic feet, about the size of a home refrigerator. What are people putting in them? Everything, Baker said -- precious metals, jewelry, cash, and even stamps and comic books.

"Once you have those things, you don't want to just stick them under your bed," he said. "Everybody has something that they don't want stolen or they don't want burned up in a fire."

E-mail Alicia Robinson at arobinson(at)PE.com

(Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, www.scrippsnews.com.)