Paul’s General Store peddles appliances, burritos, bongs.

The affable, white-haired 77-year-old Paul Sexton moves slowly, asks you to speak up and owns what is the most eclectic mix of items for sale in all of Monterey County, if not the state.

“I’ve always been a collector,” says Sexton as he tries to organize a pile of battery charger cables. “You name it – I collect just about everything.”

A dangerously quick turnoff onto Messick Road from Highway 101 North fits with the trip awaiting indoors. You’ll notice what seems to be a neighborhood garage sale with beat-up roller skates, aging power tools and racks of clothing. While cars zoom by, people either know of Paul’s General Store or find it accidentally after a wrong turn.

Inside Sexton can often be found chatting with friends and regulars with a downhome demeanor that evokes his rural Arkansas roots. His store is part flea market, part thrift shop, part convenience store (complete with microwavable burritos and cigarettes). Every available space is cluttered with items like vacuum cleaners from the ’80s, old books, DVDs, a large selection of cowboy and work boots – as well as garden gnomes, picture frames and fine china.

Kevin Sexton moved from Vancouver, Washington early this summer to help his dad with the heavy lifting and to expand the variety of goods.

“The place is old, intricate and interesting, just like my Dad,” Kevin says. He notes his dad doesn’t have more than an eighth-grade education, but has been self-employed his whole life and is now very comfortable in his elderly years.

Kevin also says there’s nothing Paul can’t fix, from watches to clocks to refrigerators: “He works because he likes working. He’ll do this until he drops dead.”

Beyond the avuncular knick knacks stands the 18-and-over smoke shop filled with bongs, bubblers, vaporizers and any other smoking accessory one would need.

“The place is old, intricate and interesting, like my Dad.”

“We try to cater to cannabis connoisseurs and the medical marijuana crowd,” says Sara McIver, Kevin’s girlfriend. The business is a family affair with Kevin, Sara and Paul’s wife Ursula, as well as a black lab, Stanley. McIver prides herself on the four-month-old smoke shop. She travels to her native Washington to handpick glass items.

The smoke shop also doubles as a sex shop with pornographic magazines and DVDs of both the hard and softcore variety (new and viewed), with a few dozen sex toys for sale (all new).

“We just like to find things for people,” McIver says. “If there’s a need, we want to fulfill it.”

The wares at Paul’s change throughout the year as things are sold and then replaced. He owns a 40-by-70-foot barn in Hollister packed with items he has collected over decades.

“He makes American Pickers look silly,” Kevin says.

Paul travels to Las Vegas twice a year to buys goods at second-hand and retail trade shows. He also frequents estate sales in the area. In the past he would frequent storage unit auctions, but since TV show, like Storage Wars popularized those auctions, he’s gotten frustrated.

“They’ve gotten too expensive,” he says. “People see it on TV and think they’ll hit it big, but they don’t know what these see on TV is fake.”

Paul has peddled his unique items for decades. He opened a store in Hollister in 1979, but was forced to close when his building was condemned after the Loma Prieta earthquake in 1989. He then opened the Los Banos World’s Fair Flea Market. Looking to retire, he sold the Los Banos property, then married Ursula and moved to Prunedale. With storage space busting at the seams and needing another way to pass the time, he opened up his store in November 2013, making this the store’s two-year anniversary.

The biggest business at the general store are used appliances: washers, dryers, refrigerators, etc. Paul buys them from estate sales and also gets them refurbished after apartments are remodeled in San Jose. Kevin stays busy delivering and installing them, often free of charge. Paul embodies the country hospitality found in places from Fort Smith, Arkansas to Prunetucky, California. He’s known to help friends build decks and with home repairs, and letting some put $50 down on $200 items, know they’ll come back and pay – as they always do. If you mention you read this article, he’ll probably give you a discount.

Leaving Paul’s General Store isn’t easy given the short onramp to get up the speed on an often full highway. If you want to head south to Salinas or Monterey you must first go a mile or so north to exit and turn around. But, it’s a worthwhile trip, with gems waiting to be discovered. And who knows. Maybe you’ll never want to leave.

PAUL’S GENERAL STORE is located at 2574 El Camino Real North. Open Mon.-Fri. 10am-7pm . 663-9910, www.facebook.com/Paulsgeneralstoreminimart