(UPDATE: After 65 years in business, Oceanic Arts has closed.)
A few weeks back, I headed down to Los Angeles to see a friend (and to attend Spooky Tiki Night at a place called Scum & Villainy Cantina). On the way, I decided to go a little beyond Hollywood and Los Angeles to visit a legendary place I had never been to before, Oceanic Arts.
Oceanic Arts is not a bar. Instead, it is a warehouse the sells (or rents) tropical tiki decor and props — much of it created in house. I first became aware of Oceanic Arts on Critiki several years ago. Somehow, even though I had been to the Los Angeles area many times since then, I had always missed stopping there. This time, before my hotel or anything else, I was going to get to Oceanic Arts.
I arrived about 11:30. The place closes for lunch from 12 to 1 p.m., so I had just under a half an hour to look around, explore, shop, and go pee. (I was soooo glad they had a public restroom. Phew!)
Although this place had always received high marks from fellow tiki enthusiasts, I was still incredibly surprised and delighted by everything I saw. Wow! Everything you could ever want in your dream tiki bar or restaurant was there. Everything!
It was all so tiki-awesome. One huge section of the store was devoted to rental stuff. That alone was cool to see.
However most of the place was filled with items for purchase, several of which were vintage pieces salvaged from condemned restaurants, bars, etc. There was nautical stuff as well as the general Polynesian tiki stuff.
The place is huge. It just goes on and on and on…
There were, of course, tiki mugs.
Although they are not mugs, I picked up this pair of Beachbum Berry Zombie glasses.
There were many other mugs as well, most of them on display only and not for sale.
There were other things on display only–not for sale–that were cool to see, such as a SHAG print (a gift from SHAG himself) and other stuff.
In the back workroom, you could hear the buzz of saws working away.
I did buy a few things (a small float and those Zombie glasses). The young woman working the front desk was very helpful.
Luckily I had the forethought to actually take some video inside of the store. If you never go there, this will give you a good idea of what it is like. Check it out. Unfortunately I didn’t film throughout the warehouse—but you’ll get the general idea.
Oceanic Arts is everything you’ve heard it is — and MORE! Check it out.
Aloha and CHEERS!
Oceanic Arts
12414 Whittier Blvd.
Whittier, CA 90602-1017
(562) 698-6960
Visit Oceanic Arts’ website: http://www.oceanicarts.net/
Visit Oceanic Arts on Critiki: https://www.critiki.com/location/oceanic-arts-whittier-202/
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Monster A GoGo - The Tiki Tourist 
Wow, so many interesting design elements and decor! I have never been in such a shop but I would be very happy to visit it! Tiki is something totally new for me and I believe it’s because it’s not famous in Europe.
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Hello. I’m JUST seeing this. Thank you for visiting the page. Tiki can be found in Europe…it just may be harder to find (and mostly relegated to the larger cities). I’m glad you seem to like the tiki aesthetic. I love going to tiki bars. It’s like taking a quick vacation (without the luggage, the flights, and the hotels) while your sipping a cocktail or two (or three, or…). CHEERS!
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