When he graduated from Clinton High School in Clinton, Mississippi, Jon Daniel Fasano enlisted in the United States Marine Corps. After serving in the special operations division for ten years, Jon Dan Fasano sharpened his welding skills, eventually accepting a position with Kalalou, a wholesale business based in Jackson, Mississippi.
A vacation to Jamaica in 1984 inspired founders Doug and Susan Williams to establish Kalalou when they discovered how affordable handmade baskets sold for on the island compared to how much similar products cost back home in Mississippi. The couple first built the business around imports of baskets from Jamaica and eventually expanded to more than 1,500 categories of products from nine countries.
A vacation to Jamaica in 1984 inspired founders Doug and Susan Williams to establish Kalalou when they discovered how affordable handmade baskets sold for on the island compared to how much similar products cost back home in Mississippi. The couple first built the business around imports of baskets from Jamaica and eventually expanded to more than 1,500 categories of products from nine countries.
Originally known as Country Originals, the Williams' wholesale business earned a spot on the list of "500 Fastest-Growing Privately Held Companies" published by Inc. Magazine in both 1991 and 1992. The couple changed the name to Kalalou as a nod to a type of Creole soup served in Caribbean countries, like those where the company does business.
