Our Story
Three Generations in Fabric
Al Anaka is a family story told in silk. For over sixty years, three generations of the Haffar family have measured, folded and sold fine fabrics — with the same rulers, many of the same suppliers, and the same belief that quality is never to be compromised.
A boy from Damascus
Abdul Kader Haffar is born on 15 November 1943. At seventeen, he begins working in fabrics in Syria — the start of a lifetime in the trade.
Learning the trade
At nineteen, Abdul Kader leaves for Kuwait, working first at his uncle's shop, then at a family-owned fabric house by the name of Al Anaka — a name that would follow the family for the next sixty years.
El Hamidieh
Abdul Kader opens his first store of his own, El Hamidieh, in Kuwait. He runs it for over a decade, building a reputation for great attention to detail and close personal relationships with customers and their families.
The journey west
After closing El Hamidieh, Abdul Kader returns to Syria for a year before setting his sights on London — a city full of opportunity for a fabric man with an expert eye.
Al Anaka London is founded
Al Anaka opens its doors in Shepherd's Bush. Stern but deeply kind-hearted, Abdul Kader takes care of his customers the way he always had — personally. Some of the people who worked alongside him are still in the shop today.
Saleem takes the reins
Saleem Haffar started in the shop at seventeen. He had dreamt of studying medicine — but behind the counter he fell in love with fabrics, and decided to devote his life to them. In 2005, his father passed him the business.
Adam takes over
After the passing of his father in 2020, Adam Haffar — the boy in the photographs — becomes the third generation to stand behind the same counter, with the same rulers, the same layout, and suppliers hand-picked by his grandfather and father decades ago.
In Loving Memory
The story continues
Adam runs Al Anaka today the way it has always been run — personally. The shop layout his grandfather set out remains; employees from both his grandfather's and father's days are still part of the family; and every fabric is sourced from suppliers chosen by the experts who came before him, never compromising on quality.
Adam graduated from the University of Nottingham with a Master's in Computer Science and worked in software development before stepping behind the family counter. His passion is technology — and his vision is to bring tech and fabrics together: delivering the best possible experience for the customers the family has served for generations, and making Al Anaka easier to reach for customers worldwide.
(coming soon)
The Team Today
(coming soon)
Do You Remember the Shop?
Three generations of customers have walked through our doors — many served by Abdul Kader himself. If you or your family have a memory of the shop, we would love to hear it. The best stories will be added to this page.
Share Your Memory“From Damascus to Kuwait to London — the same family, the same rulers, the same standards.”