Blending hand-picked vintage home goods with a new-gift inventory of greeting cards, candles, keychains, and small doodads at 1625 University Ave in Hillcrest, Oates General leans into a playful, humor-driven curation voice that separates it from straight-resale thrift floors on the same block. The shop stocks locally produced goods including HomeBase candles alongside antique shelf decor and unusual furniture pieces, crossing merchandise lanes with lifestyle boutique HUMANITY! three blocks west on University Ave. Inventory arrives from estate pickups, private sellers, and consignment intake, with new (vintage) pieces added to the floor on an ongoing basis rather than scheduled restocks. The shop was one of a dozen storefronts participating in San Diego's inaugural Vintage Store Day in May 2025, running a clothing and jewelry pop-up alongside its regular floor and sharing the small-maker and local-artist pop-up circuit with Hillcrest artist collective The Studio Door. The most involved projects are full-interior vintage-décor curations where the shop sources an entire narrative for a single room — furniture, wall art, lighting, textiles, and shelf objects — and coordinates delivery or pickup directly with the buyer.