City lights opened in September 1991 on the ground floor of a large office block just off the I-5 freeway at Sea World Drive in San Diego. Brian Young, the founder of City Lights, had retired from being managing director of a sizeable retail group of companies in the UK.  He moved along with his wife Laura and 12-year-old son Spencer from London to San Diego in the golden state of California. Brian was a great admirer of Americans and their lifestyle. He had spent many vacations in the USA and cherished the idea of retiring there. Unfortunately, going from a very active business and social life to a “what shall I do today” state of mind did not work well for him. Laura, a good-class tennis player, was fully occupied with her sport. Spencer was in school, so Dad felt he needed an interest. A small retail store in a seasonal business was his idea, and that thought morphed into City Lights. His reasoning was motivated not by money but by the need to be occupied.