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| Jamaica Photo by Jose Espinal from Pexels |
A highly honored veteran of the United States Marine Corps, Joe Don Fasano now serves as a furniture designer and exporter for Kalalou, a gift seller located in Jackson, Mississippi. Joe Dan Fasano is familiar with the company’s unique origins, which date back to a vacation in Jamaica.
In 1984, Susan and Doug Williams were a young couple who supplemented their income by making artwork and selling it at flea markets. According to the company website, Doug Williams saw an immediate opportunity when his wife paid two dollars for a basket in Jamaica that sold for $40 back home.
The Williams and their best friends, Andy and Debbie Kilpatrick, purchased and carried as many baskets as possible on the flight back home. (This was before the days of tight limits on passenger carry-ons.) The products sold well. At a customer’s suggestion, the group set up shop in the Dallas Wholesale Show. Susan Williams was inspired to design a basket in the shape of a watermelon, and soon customers were lining up to buy them. The business was eventually incorporated as Country Originals, and what began as a small-scale moneymaking idea grew into a thriving business.
In 1991 and 1992, Country Originals was named one of Inc. Magazine’s 500 Fastest Growing Privately Held Companies, and was also recognized by Entrepreneur Magazine. The company chose a new name, Kalalou, a Creole word referring to a soup that is made uniquely every time.
Kalalou sponsors several charity efforts that benefit some of the nine countries where they do business. The Williams and the Kilpatrick families remain friends and neighbors to this day.
