Yousef Elhaj, an owner of a corner grocery store in San Francisco is the focus of "Corner Store". The film is structured as a first-person narrative with an informal and intimate tone, and shot largely as cinema vérité. The camera introduces the audience to Yousef, who left Palestine ten years ago during the Second Intifada, and was forced to leave his wife and children behind as an economic refugee. During the interceding decade, Yousef has not only worked alone in the store but has also lived alone in the store's small back room, which also serves as the office and stock room.