Sorting dust into a legacy: one summer job became fifty years of music

Unfamiliar Familiar is a Dubai-based vinyl business founded by Peter Abou Hachem and Nour Chehimi, built around a family collection of more than 90,000 records and music memorabilia. What began as a summer job for Hachem's father, Kamal, in a Lebanese record shop in the early 1970s grew into a lifelong passion, with music and collecting becoming part of the family's story across generations.

In a city known for luxury and entertainment, Hachem and Chehimi offer a different perspective through the world of vinyl collecting. Having brought this family legacy from Lebanon to the UAE, their journey is as much about the memories and connections held within the records as it is about the music itself.

Hachem arrived in Dubai in 2015 and Chehimi in 2017, both with little more than a dream. “We were coming from our nine-to-five jobs. At that time, vinyl wasn't part of the picture at all during our time back in Lebanon,” Chehimi recalls.

Life Behind the Vinyl Collection

Hachem's family's love of vinyl dates back to the early 1970s, when his father, Kamal Abou Hachem, walked into a Lebanese record shop looking for a summer job. The owner initially told him there were no positions available, but Hachem insisted anyway: “I'll do anything, such as organising the records, sorting them and cleaning the dust off them.” Eventually, his persistence paid off, and he was offered a job.

By the time Hachem opened his own shop in Zouk Mikael, on the outskirts of Beirut, in 1976, music had become much more than a summer job. It was now at the centre of his life. More than 50 years later, the collection has grown to over 90,000 records.

A vinyl collection is never just about inventory. “Family holidays often involve digging through record shops and markets,” Chehimi says. One particularly noteworthy find is an original UK first pressing of The Dark Side of the Moon by English rock band Pink Floyd. Released in March 1973, the band's eighth studio album is widely regarded as one of the most influential records in rock music history. It was discovered among a collection of second-hand vinyl records that Hachem's father had bought in Lebanon. “Sometimes the most valuable or exciting record isn't the one you deliberately went searching for,” Nour says. “You stumble upon it.” Some records, however, are never put up for sale. Their sentimental value makes them too special to part with, and collectors prefer to hold on to them.

A Shared Love of Vinyl

Hachem and Chehimi are best friends who share a love of vinyl. Hachem grew up surrounded by his father's records, helping out at the family shop in Lebanon, and was also a DJ as a teenager. However, a career in vinyl collecting never crossed his mind. “The records, whether at home or in the shop, were always there in the background,” he says.
Chehimi's relationship with music began somewhere entirely different. She loved listening to music and recalls: “I loved driving around with the music volume all the way up, dancing with friends and going to concerts.”

It was through Hachem's family that she first encountered vinyl collecting directly. What struck her wasn't the size of the collection, but what it represented: “Almost 50 years of knowledge, stories and history sitting there,” she says.

Despite their different upbringings, Hachem and Chehimi discovered that they shared remarkably similar musical tastes. “Kamal Abou Hachem is the real OG,” Chehimi jokes.

Bringing the Collection to Dubai

Although Unfamiliar Familiar was established by Hachem and Chehimi in Dubai in 2025, its roots go back to the early 1970s and the family record shop in Zouk Mikael, on the outskirts of Beirut. The business operates online, with pop-ups at Alserkal Avenue and Honeycomb Hi-Fi in Business Bay. Much of its rare stock still traces back to Hachem's father, Kamal.

What began as a summer job for Kamal has since developed into something that is shared across generations. Through Unfamiliar Familiar, Hachem and Chehimi are continuing that story in Dubai, bringing together a family collection, a shared passion for music, and the memories contained in each record.

Visit: unfamiliarfamiliar.com