Oakdale’s 15,000-Square-Foot Antique Haven Keeps Memories Alive

Link to this story published: https://www.suffolkcountynews.net/stories/oakdales-15000-square-foot-antique-haven-keeps-memories-alive,101088

By Salomé Davoudiasl

On a stretch of Montalk Highway in Oakdale sits a 15,000 square-foot maze of nostalgia.

The storefront is unassuming, but once inside, the past unfurls in every direction: vintage posters, jewelry, thousands of records, WWI artifacts, and more treasures that defy simple description. This sprawling place is Remember Yesteryears, Long Island’s largest antique store, and for owner Joe Caporaso, every shelf is part of a life’s story, including his own. 

Caporaso didn’t intend to become the face of a collector’s paradise. For decades, he has run Long Island Home Buyers, an investment company that he still operates today.  “I buy and sell and fix houses,” he said. “A lot of times when I buy a house, it’s full of stuff. And it’s good stuff.”

What began as a practical way to empty homes gradually evolved into a passion. Caporaso would bring his finds to Remember Yesteryears to sell to vendors. Soon, though, the volume of the treasures he uncovered became too large to ignore. 

“I started bringing in massive amounts of treasure,” Caporaso said. “And I had no idea what the stuff was worth. I just knew it meant something.” 

The store itself predates Caporaso’s influence. “This originally was a department store,” he said. The woman who transformed it into the antique center it is today was its longtime owner, Mindy Spura. She recognized Caporaso’s passion and respect for the items the store houses. After decades of running the business, she approached him with an offer he never expected: to take it over.

“She said, ‘I want to retire… what do you think about taking over the store?’” Caporaso said. “I was honored. To this day, I am so honored and blessed that of all the people she knows, she chose me, because of my dedication to the vendors, my passion for the business, and to grow businesses.”

Today, Remember Yesteryears operates like a co-op of 120 vendors, each renting a designated space filled with their own curated collection.

“Everyone pays rent to have their stuff brought in and sold here,” he explained. “Someone sells jewelry. Someone else sells toys. Someone else sells clothes. That’s their spot. They rent like a co-op.”

Every item arrives with a tag noting its vendor code, description, and price. At day’s end, vendors receive a spreadsheet listing everything they’ve sold. Every two weeks, Caporaso handwrites each vendor a check.

One of those vendors is Mike SantaMaria, whose booth is a hot-spot for music lovers. His items are tagged “MSM”, and his four sections of the store are filled with vintage instruments, musical collectibles, war memorabilia, and antiques that refelct a lifetime of collecting.

“I’m a musician, and I collect vintage instruments,” SantaMaria said. “I have a vintage instrument booth in the store as well as collectibles and antiques. I’ve been here six years now.”

SantaMaria and his wife have been collectors for most their lives. What began as an effort to downsize slowly expanded into a major presence inside Remember Yesteryears. 

“We got one spot, and it just kept going,” he said.

Outside the store, SantaMaria is deeply embedded in Long Island’s music scene. He runs the Long Island Blues Jam at Bobbique in Patchogue every Wednesday, a tradition he has kept alive for nine years. Inside Remember Yesteryears, that same sense of community carries over.

“Mindy is still a good friend,” SantaMaria said. “We help each other out and it’s a great atmosphere. We have fun here.” 

He has watched Caporaso’s evolution firsthand, from customer, to vendor, to owner. 

“Joe’s all in,” SantaMaria said. “He used to come in as a customer, and I knew he loved antiques. He showed me all his collections. And the next thing you know, he owns it.”

And yes, even though he owns the entire place, Caporaso is still one of the 120 vendors. “I’m not only an owner,” he said, laughing. “I’m a vendor. I’ve got spots all over.”

But it isn’t a purchase that moves him the most. 

“Every single day is an emotional day,” he said. “There could be three to five people who come in and start talking about their father who passed away, or their mother. The kids take what they want, and the rest comes here. Their cars or trucks outside are full of their treasure.”

Caporaso buys most of it, not merely as merchandise, but to immortalize the memory.

“There’s an incredible amount of souls here with these items,” he said softly. “I have an incredible amount of respect for them and the people and the emotion they have, the history they hold. These are loved ones’ items.”

His affection for old things is inherited. Growing up in East New York, Caporaso watched his father drive around picking up abandoned items, “all kinds of strange things,” he said. “So I always had the bug.”

Later, after 35 to 40 years in construction, the physical toll pushed him toward full-time antiquing. “My hands are done,” he admitted. Now, instead of renovating houses, he preserves pieces of history.

“It just seems that everybody on Long Island likes something,” Caporaso said. “People have a passion for something. They love something, they collect something. And what better than preserving the past?”

Inside this Oakdale warehouse of memories, that past feels alive, carefully tended, deeply loved, and always waiting for the next person to walk through the doors and discover the story meant for them.

Salomé Davoudiasl is a reporter with The SBU Media Group, part of Stony Brook University’s School of Communication and Journalism’s Working Newsroom program for students and local media.