Weber-Stephen Products Co.
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| Private | |
| Industry | Manufacturing |
| Founded | May 8, 1893 |
| Founder | George A. Stephen |
| Headquarters | Palatine, Illinois |
| Products | Outdoor grills |
| Website | www |
The Weber-Stephen Products LLC is a privately held American manufacturer of charcoal, gas and electric outdoor grills with related accessories. In 2004, Weber-Stephen acquired some assets of competitor Ducane at a bankruptcy sale. It also owns restaurants and publishes cookbooks. The company was family owned until it sold a majority stake to BDT Capital Partners in 2010.
Weber-Stephen was originally incorporated on May 8, 1893 as Weber Bros. Metal Works.
In 1951, the original round charcoal kettle grill was built by George Stephen Sr., a then part-owner of the sheet metal shop in Chicago who sought to improve on the brazier he had been using to cook with at home. The grill was produced using two sheet metal half-spheres normally used as parts of buoys built in his shop. Shortly thereafter he began selling the invention, which he called 'George's Barbecue Kettle', for which there was considerable demand.
Because the grill became so successful after he began selling it in 1952, Stephen formed the barbecue division of the Weber Brothers factory. In the late 1950s, Stephen bought out the Weber Brothers factory and became the sole owner, devoting all his professional time to manufacturing and selling the Weber kettle. Soon thereafter, Stephen changed the company’s name to Weber-Stephen Products Co.
The Weber-Stephen company manufactures and sells outdoor electric grills, charcoal grills,gas grills, and charcoal smokers.
In 1989, the company opened the first Weber Grill Restaurant in Wheeling, Illinois, but in spite of a remodeling in 2000, this location closed in 2010. Five additional locations were built in Lombard, Illinois (1999), River North, Chicago (2002), Schaumburg, Illinois (2005), Indianapolis (2007), and St.Louis (2016), all of which are in operation as of 2017.
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