In late March, a furniture consignment business based out of Burlingame opened its second branch on Lincoln Avenue. Since then, the word has spread about Fine Consign, a secondhand shop with classy merchandise and market-driven prices. Locals are calling it a fine match for Willow Glen.

"The ladies there are unbelievably helpful," says Willow Glen resident Lorie Arkley. "It just has a real warm feeling to it that will be good for Willow Glen."

Arkley, who visits the shop at least once a week during her walks downtown, says it is a great place to find quality furniture for a fair price. Anything that has to do with home decoration is gladly showcased at Fine Consign, where oak dressers and candlestick holders fill the corners and a cardboard cutout of Mini-Me wobbles near the entrance.

"With the economy being what it is, you can go into Fine Consign and still afford something really nice," says Kassie Arsenalt, who recently remodeled her house in Willow Glen and turned to the shop for new furniture. "I was embarrassed because I was in there so much."

But owner Linda Lewis more than welcomes regulars to sift through her ever-changing display of home furnishings.

"There are treasures coming in every day," says Lewis, who has managed the business from Burlingame for more than three years. "That's what our regular customers like about it—coming in each day to see one or two new pieces."

But before a new item is put on display, store manager Barbara Petro and assistant manager Peggy Stevenson visit clients for a free market appraisal. Petro says this should not be mistaken for an antique appraisal, where an item is priced according to its historical value. When giving a market appraisal, Petro determines the price by how much she believes the public is willing to pay.

And with the increasing popularity of antiques being sold on eBay, Petro is coming across fewer and fewer unique items to appraise.

"Right now the market for antiques is very soft, and a lot of antiques stores are really having a problem," Petro says. "I personally think they've inflated the value of antiques."

But that hasn't kept the shop from showcasing a few costly antiques. A 16th-century English buffet is the highest-priced item in the store, one cent shy of $6,000. Petro recalls one client who offered to consign a heavily carved mirror that turned out to be worth $7,000, and another who wanted to get rid of an old wooden rocking horse that eventually sold for $4,000.

Mixing these antiques with $60 coffee tables, vintage rugs and a few plastic plants is just Lewis' style.

If an item has showcased for the contracted 45 days without selling, Petro and Stevenson contact the client to negotiate a lower selling price.

"We never just throw things out after their days are up," Petro says. "We actually have a few items that have been here since opening day, and that's normal."

Once an item is sold, Fine Consign and the client split the profit equally.

Petro says, "Here we do the advertising and marketing for you, people come in to buy your items here, and they sell very quickly."

As of now, Petro and Lewis say the store is still working on making itself known to surrounding communities.

"Where I used to work, I would come to open the doors and it would be like Mervyn's, with 30 or 40 people standing outside," says Petro. "We want to get to that point, where people know we're here."

Fine Consign is located at 1123 Lincoln Ave. in Willow Glen. For more information, call 408.279.2116.