Having spent his free time as a child perusing consignment shops in South Dakota, Todd Shevlin manifests his appreciation for fine furniture and art in his Plano storefront, The Consignerie.

Curating items from the community, ranging from urns the size of doorways to Parisian oil paintings, Shevlin is picky about what enters his shop.

“I probably turn down 10 times more inventory than I take. That’s how selective I am,” Shevlin said.

Some of the designer brands customers can choose from include Hancock and Moore, Drexel Heritage and Theodore Alexander.

Other than choosing what to fill his store with next and delivering furniture to his clients, Shevlin also provides design consultancy. With decades of experience, Shevlin knows to keep tabs on the emerging design trends. One of the trends Shevlin has noticed has been furniture with clean lines and light colors.

“Now, everybody wants cleaner lines,” Shevlin said. “Things with studs—people like ... studs too.”

And similar to the trends he has seen emerge and evolve, so Shevlin’s shop is constantly changing, he said.

“It’s just constantly turning. I refer to my store as a moving jigsaw puzzle,” he said. “I’m a space planner, so I just figure out ways to maximize the square footage by rearranging the furniture.”

Customers who have previously visited The Consignerie frequently note how the store takes on a new appearance every six months or so, Shevlin said.

But the surge in online shopping—combined with the presence of megaretailers, such as Nebraska Furniture Mart of Texas and Ikea—has been tough on business, Shevlin said. Even some of his regular clients shop at the larger retail chains.

Although competition is tough, The Consignerie has stayed afloat due to the unique selection of high-quality brands—the Rolls-Royces of furniture, Shevlin said.

“People understand that car analogy,” he said.