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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsBloomberg: Weber Grills: Mostly Made in America by Private Equity (buying a new grill?)
A Private Equity that keeps jobs here?
Photograph by Ryan Lowry for Bloomberg Businessweek
Mike Kempster, Webers chief marketing officer and self-described gonzo griller
http://www.bloomberg.com/bw/articles/2013-06-27/weber-grills-mostly-made-in-america-by-private-equity
By Bryan Gruley June 27, 2013
Sixty-one years ago, George Stephen got tired of wind and rain messing up his cooking on an open-air grill, the main barbecue tool of the day. He grabbed a buoy made where he worked, Weber Brothers Metal Works in Illinois. He sliced it in half and fashioned a tight-fitting dome lid. It didnt work very well until a neighbor suggested he poke holes in the kettle so air could fuel the fire. The Weber grill was born.
Stephen eventually bought the Weber metal shop, creating Weber-Stephen Products of Palatine, Ill., which is now the worlds largest grill manufacturer. The privately held company doesnt disclose financials, but Euromonitor International says Weber-Stephen claims 35 percent of the $2.5 billion U.S. market, with rival Char-Broil a distant second.
In 1971, Stephen hired Mike Kempster, Weber-Stephens current chief marketing officer. He calls himself the godfather of the brand. In a warehouse adjoining a plant in Huntley, Ill., Kempster gestures at thousands of shrink-wrapped boxes of grills and smokers stacked in 20-foot towers. Looks like a big supply, right? he asks. Its probably less than a week. He wont specify how much the factory produces, but around 80 trucks haul stuff away daily. Shipments peak at about 110 semis a day just before July 4.
Illustration by Jennifer Daniel; Photo: Alamy
Thats a lot of barbecues, but grill sales have flattened over the past few years, partly because of the U.S. housing downturn, Kempster says. While the company sees that turning around, it still faces challenges from Europes financial struggles, volatile commodity costs, and low-cost overseas manufacturers.
FULL story at link.
marym625
(17,997 posts)bullwinkle428
(20,630 posts)like it did the day I brought it home. Even on cold and windy Midwest winter evenings!
K&R.
Sherman A1
(38,958 posts)MohRokTah
(15,429 posts)I still use a Weber kettle to this day. I refuse to use Kingsford charcoal (I only use lump charcoal and briquets made from coconut fiber), but nothing beats a Weber kettle for good barbecue unless it's the ease of my pellet smoker.
Omaha Steve
(99,711 posts)We are proud to be 'Making it in America' today with our friends Al Contarino and George Peters, who both co-founded KettlePizza, which gives you the opportunity to turn your grill into a wood fired pizza oven!
Please tell us a about yourself.
Al Contarino and I are inventors. Our passion is to create and develop products that can make people's lives fun, safer or easier.
Why is 'Making it in America significant at KettlePizza?
Right from the beginning when Al had the idea for the KettlePizza we knew it could be Made in America. We wanted to help put more people to work, here at home, rather than send jobs overseas. We knew it may be hard but so what, hark work, commitment and passion for doing things the right way will always win out in the end.
FULL story at link.
MohRokTah
(15,429 posts)phantom power
(25,966 posts)Mine has sat out in the elements several years, and still runs like a champ
Ghost in the Machine
(14,912 posts)few times during the week.
I've smoked turkeys, a couple of Caribou roasts, and probably a ton of pork shoulder roasts on it. Many, many times, instead of charcoal, I used hickory limbs, oak or wood from apple trees to cook with. I would buy a 15 - 20 lb pork shoulder every friday on my way home from work. when I got home, I would get the grill going and slow cook the roast until Saturday afternoon, then I would debone the cooked meat and make BBQ, either sliced or pulled, and we would eat it the rest of the weekend. I had people that would come over on friday night and stay until sunday and we would spend the whole weekend out in the back yard with a bonfire going, drinking beer and a few guys would play guitar or we were jamming the stereo. The neighbor didn't care, he and his wife were there too! That's what I love about living way out in the country!
Peace,
Ghost
Depaysement
(1,835 posts)Omaha Steve
(99,711 posts)JaneyVee
(19,877 posts)Bought a Weber grill in 2007 and still looks and works like brand new.
TwilightGardener
(46,416 posts)Had some tasty burgers last night, as a matter of fact.
canoeist52
(2,282 posts)The salesman at the local hardware store agreed that made in the USA was most important. Been using our Weber grill for three years now. Stays out in the New England weather year round and still does a great job.