After graduating from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Clara Barck founded the Kalo Shop in 1900. The shop first focused on leatherwork and weaving, but increasingly concentrated on metalwork after Barck married George Welles, an amateur metalworker. Clara Welles imposed high standards of design and craftsmanship in the products Kalo made and retailed in downtown Chicago. The beauty and quality of Kalo Shop hollowware, flatware, and jewelry supports their status as one of the most highly regarded metalworking shops of the American Arts and Crafts movement.