With the slump in the economy, the advent of online auctions such as eBay and the fact that buying vintage is a luxury, antique stores are fighting for their lives.

In fact, the owners of the largest store in the South Bay, Antique Colony, are in search of a new location because they can't meet an increase in rent.

And Sunnyvale's antique business has been decimated, with four stores closing in recent years.

But across the street from Fremont High School, sitting in the middle of a strip mall, Trisha's Treasures is the exception. It's now the only antique shop in Sunnyvale.

Trisha Diglio, the owner of Trisha's Treasures, says she's hanging in there because she's stubborn. "To me the thrill of this business is all about buying something old and beautiful that has probably been in somebody's attic for a long, long time and then watching the same piece go into somebody else's possession and seeing their pleasure at owning it. Being a part of this process keeps me going."

Nestled between a barber shop and a beauty salon, it's easy to miss this quaint one-of-a-kind shop located in the midst of these more common stores, but inside one stumbles on a wide variety of valuable trinkets.

Every time a visitor enters the store, tiny bells jingle. It feels like one has entered another realm--a time and space dimension that nudges a shopper to relax and browse through a myriad of baubles, collectibles and artifacts. They are crammed into every available nook, cranny and floor space in the store. There's everything from delicate Victorian teacups to ornate beveled mirrors to coins dating back to the Roman Empire.

"I have something for everyone," says Digilio. "I see something that's unusual, I pick it up even though I personally might not like it very much because I know somebody else might," she says. And she places her treasures in unusual groupings.

While fingering the delicate texture of a Moroccan belly dancer's scarf, one spies an East European wood panel painting of the Madonna tucked away in a corner. An old sewing machine sits next to an original Egyptian papyrus artwork, and porcelain dolls perch next to ancient busts of Buddha and a few native American woven baskets. From irons of the 1800s to diamond-studded pocket watches of that same period, Trisha's Treasures offers customers a huge variety of vintage items.

For Digilio, the store is a culmination of years of hard work and her passion for collecting pieces from the past.

In 1996, after her divorce, Digilio moved from the San Joaquin Valley back to her roots in the Bay Area. While she worked as a temporary employee in the accounting field to take care of day-to-day expenses, she found she did not enjoy the job.

So, following her heart, she began collecting estate jewelry from yard sales and started selling them at trade shows and flea markets to supplement her income. "Even as a child, I enjoyed collecting and wearing costume jewelry pieces that my grandma or somebody else would give me. I just love the look and feel of stones and gems," says Digilio.

Along the way, she met a gemologist who recognized Digilio's passion for the business and took Digilio under her wing. "This lady was my mentor. I spent a few years learning under her, and she taught me all about the various aspects of choosing and buying good stones," says Digilio.

Before she knew it, with her new- found knowledge in gems, Digilio had 13 cases of estate jewelry sitting at her home. And she carried them with her to every show or sales event. While each piece was old, some were rare, like ruby- and pearl-inlaid Victorian rings and platinum Art Deco jewelry sets that were studded with diamonds.

Within a short time, Digilio found a way to make her biggest dream come true. "I'd always wanted to set up a store where I could sell my merchandise. And at that time I received a small inheritance, which I used to open a store in Sunnyvale," she says.

That's when this jewelry enthusiast turned into a full-fledged antique dealer. She began scouting, not just for jewelry but also for other vintage art and collectibles that would appeal to a broad clientele.

"Like other antique dealers, I did not travel to other countries to get my pieces. I'd love to do it. But maybe in another lifetime," she says. "I pick up a lot of my stuff from yard sales and flea markets. I keep eyes open for that unique piece," says Digilio.

Her store began to brim over with timeless treasures, leaving just enough space for a meandering path for her customers to walk around the store.

The original store was located in the same strip mall but was smaller and hidden away behind other stores. Later, as business expanded, Digilio moved to her current location, where the shop has more visibility.

Joyce Stuck has been a regular patron of Trisha's Treasures for close to a decade now. "The best part of shopping at Trisha's Treasures is the atmosphere at the store. Patty is so friendly and gives you the space to browse around, pick up and touch any object in the store. Unlike other antique stores, where you normally feel intimidated or pressured to buy something, the atmosphere here is so warm. And that is such a treat for any prospective buyer. She also has a cat, Samantha, who is a mascot for the store," says Stuck.

For Digilio, Trisha's Treasures has been a memorable journey dotted, of course, with the inherent ups and downs of any business.

"When I was starting out, I would have at least five people come into the store at the same time to buy things. And this would go on for the entire day. But business is not as brisk as it was then," she says.

Mike Kelly, owner of Antique Colony in San Jose, is having the same experience. Colony is the largest antique store in the South Bay. It has been around for 20 years but is closing because the landlord is raising the rent. "We are moving, but we haven't found a place yet," says Kelly. He says retail in the valley hasn't begun to recover.

Marie Crowninshield is a longtime Sunnyvale resident and an antique collector. She says that over the past few years she has seen antique stores in the city close one after another. The Sunnyvale senior says, "There used to be a few on Murphy Street. But when the economy started going down, many of them closed shop or took their businesses elsewhere because the rents were high there."

Crowninshield has her theory for why Trisha's Treasures has survived.

"I think it is because [Trisha] has something for everybody in her store. Unlike other upscale shops that specialize in either furniture or lamps or jewelry, at Trisha's Treasures you can always find something that fits your wallet and she is very reasonable with her prices," says Crowninshield. She says that she has picked a few old teacup and saucer sets with roses painted on them at Trisha's.

Digilio says she needs to be competitive to stay in the race. "eBay had totally changed the antique business. Earlier a collector would travel from place to place, stopping at stores and flea markets to find an elusive piece," she says.

"But now people can buy antiques online at the click of a few buttons. So when a customer comes in to my store and finds a piece that can be found on eBay for a little less, I need to mark it down too for the product to sell," she says.

Though this antique dealer admits she's sold a few pieces online, she says she's baffled at the idea of somebody buying valuable vintage items over the Internet. "How can you buy something without picking up the piece first, feeling it in your hands and then falling in love with it?" she says.

So has the power of technology ever tempted her to close her store and go online, too? "No," she says. "This business is all about bringing smiles and creating sweet memories for people. If I don't see that, then there would be no joy in this business for me," she says.