Bloomberg: 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, Weber’s 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 didn’t 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 world’s largest grill manufacturer. The privately held company doesn’t 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-Stephen’s 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. “It’s probably less than a week.” He won’t 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
That’s 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 Europe’s financial struggles, volatile commodity costs, and low-cost overseas manufacturers.
FULL story at link.
= new reply since forum marked as read
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.
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
