From Streamlined Mid-Century to the Groovy 70s and Beyond, Brian Musial of Oates General Says Vintage Decor Is Here to Stay

By Frank Sabatini Jr.

There is a quaint store in the east end of Hillcrest that makes you feel as though you’ve walked into a time capsule. It’s called Oates General, an independent business owned by retro-minded Brian Musial, who has amassed an inventory of niche collectibles and furniture pieces that effectively inject a little nostalgia into our modern-day lives.

Whether it’s mid-century chairs with bucket-shaped backs and hairpin legs you’re looking for, or a 70s-style floor lamp with oversized light bulbs swirling down its stem, Musial accommodates. Even better, he is a trusty resource about the cultural eras that originally brought such goods into the marketplace. And he understands the continuous demand for them.

Musial’s stock extends to wall mirrors, lighting, poster art, record albums, heavy ashtrays, old Playboy magazines and an ambitious collection of bar ware from bygone decades. (On our recent visit, we found numerous vintage cocktail glasses that jived swimmingly to a small, portable bar for sale that you’d expect to see in the living room of Rob and Laura Petrie in the 60s-era Dick Van Dyke Show.)

Musial shared with us his insights about consumer attraction to the styles of yesteryear while guardedly revealing where he finds many of the items that fill the store. One of the places where he shops is at a 690-mile yard sale that runs across six U.S. states!

Downtown Condo Guys: When did you open Oates General? And why the name?

Musial: I opened in November of 2023, although I got into the business around 14 or 15 years ago doing online sales before selling at vintage flea markets in Palm Springs and Long Beach. I then progressed to selling from spaces in antique malls throughout San Diego County. Opening up a storefront was the next step. It had been what I was always envisioning in my head.

The name of my company comes from watching actor Warren Oates in Westerns and weird 70s movies. I liked him as a character. He was an inspiration because so much of this job is getting dirty and sweaty digging around for stuff.

Downtown Condo Guys: In addition to your Hillcrest store, do you still sell at antique malls?

Musial: Yes, I have a space inside Girard Avenue Marketplace in La Jolla.

Downtown Condo Guys: Were you a collector of vintage goods at an early age?

Musial: Yes, absolutely. It started with baseball cards when I was super young. Then collecting records when I was in my teens. And then in the early 90s, thrifting for old clothes. The collector in me never really turns off. If you ask any vintage dealer, they’ll say the same thing. The easiest and best part of our job is finding stuff. The part we hate is actually selling it.

Downtown Condo Guys: Do you incorporate vintage pieces and furnishings into your own home?

Musial: Yes. In this line of business I can’t imagine the thought of going into IKEA or Jerome’s to buy a sofa.

Downtown Condo Guys: From where do you source your inventory?

Musial: I get asked that about five times a day. So if I tell you exactly, then I won’t be able to find any of the things I sell. [Chuckle] But what I can say is that I’ll drive anywhere in California and Arizona within striking distance. I also do an annual buying trip, where a friend and I fly one-way to Tennessee in early August, rent a cargo van, and set out on the 127 Yard Sale, which runs all along Highway 127 and goes from Michigan to Alabama. It’s pretty incredible. We then drive back home with the van filled with stuff.

Downtown Condo Guys: What percentage of goods throughout your store do you carry from each of the various decades?

Musial: Around 10 percent of my inventory is 1950s; 20 percent 1960s, 40 percent 1970s; and 30 percent from the 80s. I definitely don’t identify as a mid-century store because finding mid-century furniture isn’t easy. There’s not a ton of it.

Downtown Condo Guys: Is there any particular time period that you favor the most?

Musial: I don’t discriminate over the past decades.

Downtown Condo Guys: How often do you carry things like credenzas, end tables and cabinets from those eras?

Musial: They are always in rotation, and it depends on what I have space for in the store. I also sometimes carry sofas.

Downtown Condo Guys: What about vintage electrical appliances?

Musial: I don’t carry them. Those items skew a little more to thrift shops. In trying to sell a nice piece of vintage furniture, having a blender within eye shot kind of cheapens the look of the store.

Downtown Condo Guys: What items do customers gravitate to the most?

Musial: It goes all over the place in waves. Wall mirrors and shelving go fast. I also sell a lot of vintage silver and turquoise jewelry. And when I get good arm chairs in here, they always do well. I’m always looking for one-of-a-kind pieces that no one else has.

Downtown Condo Guys: What are the rarest, most valuable items you’ve sold at the store?

Musial: I had a pair of designer sofas—Italian leather from the 70s. They were among the first things I brought into my store and among the first things that sold. Also, I had gotten from the 127 Yard Sale a fiberglass bench that was used at the Louisville Zoo that was totally mid-Century and very unique. It’s a piece that I’ll never have again.

Downtown Condo Guys: How about the quirkiest items, regardless of price?

Musial: Almost every shelf in the store has something quirky. One of the things was a ceramic cheeseburger table lamp that was roughly 36 inches tall. It was the source of many photographs by my customers. When someone finally bought it, I said with a little tear in my eye that I can’t believe it’s gone. So there is somebody in San Diego with a cheeseburger lamp.

Downtown Condo Guys: If a person wants to add a mid-century touch to their home, condo or apartment, what type of items should they look for to achieve ‘the look?’

Musial: I would say to start with a particular textile or color on a piece of furniture in your home that isn’t mid-century style—and then find a piece of mid-century art to go with it. Or begin with furniture pieces with tapered legs or any mid-century-style lamps. The nice thing about mid-century design is that it is timeless, and its function is just as important as its form.

Downtown Condo Guys: What is your consumer demographic in general?

Musial: Here in Hillcrest, there are a lot of younger people who live in apartments and like to buy themselves a little vintage treat for $40, for example. I also get other customers with established careers who own their homes. They tend to be the ones who buy furniture.

Downtown Condo Guys: Being a collector and retailer of all things vintage, what is your least favorite style of home-decor born from these 21st Century times?

Musial: Mass-produced things from big-box stores that don’t tell a story.