After years of following the furniture market, Chuck and Anne Worrell were puzzled at first by the results at the Biltmore branch of High Country Furniture.

Despite the plethora of wealthy neighborhoods that mark the Asheville-Biltmore-Hendersonville corridor, the new location did not sell as many high-end pieces as their original store back in Haywood County, a wildly successful home furnishings retail showroom on U.S. 19 between Waynesville and Maggie Valley.

One factor was the younger demographic, families that had sunk all their money into home mortgages and car payments. But the major difference between the Biltmore market and Haywood County was the tourism component. High Country Furniture was sending two trucks a month to Florida with deliveries for tourists who bought pieces while on vacation.

“We feel like we are becoming a word-of-mouth destination,” said Chuck Worrell. Customers are increasingly journeying to Waynesville for a day trip from nearby metro locations like Greenville, S.C., Charlotte or Winston-Salem, he said.

“My study of the demographics of the market shows that tourism is the number one industry in this part of the country. People who are vacationing here are looking for something above the norm,” Chuck Worrell said.

So last year, the Worrells decided to open a third store — this one called High Country West — to capitalize on the popularity of Waynesville, whose thriving downtown district and overall quality of life have landed it on several Top 100 lists of places to live, vacation or retire.

The Western influenced merchandise of their new Main Street store includes everything from chandeliers, rugs, and sofas to leather handbags and boutique clothing. Anne, the primary purveyor of High Country’s wares, detected the coming popularity of the Western motif. Western décor started filling the pages of Better Homes and Gardens and Southern Living, while bridal magazines featured Western weddings. A Western influence also started showing up in the European markets, where she makes regular trips to scout for pieces.

“It’s really sweeping the country,” Worrell said.

The “something different” principle is what guided Jeanie Tracy with her new Main Street storefront for Jeweler’s Workbench, which carries jewelry designed and hand-crafted by various jewelry artist across the nation. The visibility that goes along with the higher rent for Main Street storefronts is worth it, Tracy said.

“Our first day opening was gangbusters, better than I ever thought,” Tracy said. And it’s not just tourists, given her late April opening.

“I have a huge local following now,” Tracy said, pegging as many as half of her customers as locals. Tracy balances high-end jewelry artists with a lower priced yet still custom designed line so any teen-age boy could buy something for his mother or girlfriend.

“I want to still have something for everyone. That’s why I went into retail. I loved dealing with people, meeting people, helping people,” Tracy said.

While new businesses downtown have classy and artistic merchandise and nice facades, Tracy said people assume prices will be equally upscale. But that’s not always the case.

Debbie Buckley, owner of Towne Square on Main Street, said the classic arches and glass chandeliers of her year-old remodeling job to the building gives people an upscale perception.

“I think it is going to keep going in the same direction. There are a lot of people that have made great changes to their stores in the past years,” Buckley said. “It doesn’t mean it has to be high dollar, but certainly having a nice attractive building is in everyone’s best interest.”

Towne Square features the work of dozens of artists and crafters, along with a restaurant and soon an espresso bar and old-fashioned soda fountain. Just shy of a one-year anniversary, Towne Square’s first summer was better than expected and Buckley anticipates more growth this summer.

The winter season, however, was not as good as she hoped.

“I think there are things we can do to reach out to the local people. We need to let people know we don’t roll up and close our doors on Main Street. It’s getting through that learning curve,” Buckley said.

Ron Huelster, executive director of the Downtown Waynesville Association, challenges the perception that downtown is going high-end.

Huelster points to the selection of traditional services like barbershops and dry cleaners to professional services like accountants, lawyers and Web designers. There are affordable, everyday clothing stores like Mast General, John Graham’s and Fifi’s ladies consignment store. Main Street is home to a $1.25 hotdog and a 60-cent cup of coffee after all, with a plethora of inexpensive restaurants that do a bang-up weekday lunch business.

While a number of new shops offering high-quality, handmade arts and crafts have joined the downtown community, that doesn’t mean the whole district is upscale, Huelster said.

“I think it is a reflection in part of the change in the economy and development of niche markets,” Huelster said of the latest Main Street look. “We have a lot of artists living here who produce high-quality handmade items. Our focus has always been to develop the arts and crafts industry as a reflection of the region.”