Young’s Backpacks is one of Telegraph’s quieter anchors. Its story starts in 1983, when Min Young arrived in the United States as a young man who had served in the Korean army and developed a reputation as an accomplished mountaineer. Young built his small camping store piece by piece until it became something steady and familiar. 

Four decades later, Young is still on Telegraph Avenue, but the street around him has shifted. The independent, family-run shops that once defined the street are fading due to increasing rents and the rise of online retail.