BAKERSFIELD, Calif. -- A struggling economy has not kept local pawn shop goers away from selling their valuables.

A throwback trend of pawning has helped some, on the local scene, snap this economic turmoil.

The pawn shop owners ABC23 spoke with Monday, shoved away from even referring to their shops as pawn shops, they now like to think of themselves as your new neighborhood bank.

Fiscal times seem so strained that ABC23 found one local man who was pawning an engagement ring just to pay for utilities on his house.

Four different central Bakersfield pawn shops reported that they had seen a soar in recent months in people coming in to sell items they find no need for anymore.

Now one of the owners of the pawn shops ABC23 spoke with Monday mentioned that he had seen a recent rise in stolen merchandise ending up at his shop.

He attributed these hot items to the slumping economy.