In the early 1900s, Ali Akbar Maktabi decided to move from Damascus, Syria to Beirut, Lebanon an opened the first shop in 1928.
Ali Akbar took over the role of guardian for his deceased brother's children, who were brought to Beirut.
From Beirut the family prospered as carpet merchants where they made a fortune then expanded to e.g. Saudi Arabia, Doha in Qatar, Istanbul in Turkey, Copenhagen in Denmark, Oslo in Norway and Zurich, Switzerland.
The word "Maktabi" (مكتبي) originates from Arabic and means "office worker", "academic", or "learned person".
But there is also a Syrian family with the surname Maktabi traced back to the city of Aleppo in the north of Syria.