Weber Inc. is a

publicly traded A public company is a company whose ownership is organized via shares of stock which are intended to be freely traded on a stock exchange or in over-the-counter markets. A public (publicly traded) company can be listed on a stock exchange (list ...

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

manufacturer of

charcoal Charcoal is a lightweight black carbon residue produced by strongly heating wood (or other animal and plant materials) in minimal oxygen to remove all water and volatile constituents. In the traditional version of this pyrolysis process, cal ...

gas Gas is one of the four fundamental states of matter (the others being solid, liquid, and plasma). A pure gas may be made up of individual atoms (e.g. a noble gas like neon), elemental molecules made from one type of atom (e.g. oxygen), or ...

, and electric outdoor grills with related

accessories Accessory may refer to: * Accessory (legal term), a person who assists a criminal In anatomy * Accessory bone * Accessory muscle * Accessory nucleus, in anatomy, a cranial nerve nucleus * Accessory nerve In arts and entertainment * Accessory ...

. 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 Byron David Trott (born December 2, 1958) is the founder, chairman and CEO of BDT Capital Partners, a merchant bank that provides advice and capital to family and founder-led companies. Formerly, Trott was vice chairman of Investment Banking at ...

in 2010. In 2021 it became a publicly traded company.

History

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 Sheet metal is metal formed into thin, flat pieces, usually by an industrial process. Sheet metal is one of the fundamental forms used in metalworking, and it can be cut and bent into a variety of shapes. Thicknesses can vary significantly; ex ...

shop in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

who sought to improve on the

brazier A brazier () is a container used to burn charcoal or other solid fuel for cooking, heating or cultural rituals. It often takes the form of a metal box or bowl with feet. Its elevation helps circulate air, feeding oxygen to the fire. Braziers h ...

he had been using to cook with at home. The grill was produced using two sheet metal half-spheres normally used as parts of

buoy A buoy () is a floating device that can have many purposes. It can be anchored (stationary) or allowed to drift with ocean currents. Types Navigational buoys * Race course marker buoys are used for buoy racing, the most prevalent form of yac ...

s built in his shop. Shortly thereafter he began selling the invention, which he called 'George's Barbecue Kettle', for which there was considerable demand. One of the earlier nicknames for the grill was ‘

Sputnik Sputnik 1 (; see § Etymology) was the first artificial Earth satellite. It was launched into an elliptical low Earth orbit by the Soviet Union on 4 October 1957 as part of the Soviet space program. It sent a radio signal back to Earth for t ...

‘. 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.

Weber Grill restaurants

In 1989, the company opened the first Weber Grill

Restaurant A restaurant is a business that prepares and serves food and drinks to customers. Meals are generally served and eaten on the premises, but many restaurants also offer take-out and food delivery services. Restaurants vary greatly in appearan ...

Wheeling, Illinois Wheeling is a village in Cook County, Illinois, Cook and Lake County, Illinois, Lake counties in the U.S. state of Illinois. A suburb of Chicago, it is primarily in Cook County, approximately northwest of downtown Chicago. Per the 2020 United Sta ...

, but in spite of a remodeling in 2000, this location closed in 2010. As of August 2021, four additional locations are open in

Lombard, Illinois Lombard is a village in DuPage County, Illinois, United States, and a suburb of Chicago. The population was 43,165 at the 2010 census. The United States Census Bureau estimated the population in 2019 to be 44,303. History Originally part of ...

(opened 1999),

River North, Chicago The River North Gallery District or simply River North, in Chicago, is in the Near North Side, Chicago. It hosts the largest concentration of art galleries in the United States outside of Manhattan. River North has experienced vast changes in ...

(2002),

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(2005), and

Indianapolis Indianapolis (), colloquially known as Indy, is the state capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the seat of Marion County. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the consolidated population of Indianapolis and Marion ...

(2007). While a majority share of Weber-Stephen Products LLC was sold to BDT Capital Partners in 2010, the acquisition did not include restaurant operations. While both the restaurants and outdoor cooking equipment maintain the Weber branding, two separate companies now exist. The restaurants remain solely owned by the Stephen family.

Acquisitions

Ducane Products Co.

The Ducane Products Company began as the Ducane Brothers Metal Fabricating in 1946. It moved three years later to Little Ferry, New Jersey and manufactured warm air furnaces. In 1968, the name was changed to The Ducane Company and moved the base of operations to Barnwell, South Carolina and in 1975, they started making Ducane gas grills. Ducane filed for bankruptcy in 2003 and was partially acquired by Weber-Stephens at a bankruptcy sale in 2004 for $13.6 million. Under Weber's leadership, Ducane marketed propane and natural gas grills through big box home improvement and specialty outdoor product stores. In an effort to revamp the Ducane brand, Weber introduced the "Ducane Stainless" (2006) exclusively through Home Depot, the "Ducane Affinity" (2007) and the "Ducane Meridian" (2007) through multiple channels.

June

In 2021, it was announced that

June June is the sixth month of the year in the Julian and Gregorian calendars and is the second of four months to have a length of 30 days, and the third of five months to have a length of less than 31 days. June contains the summer solstice in ...

, a

home automation Home automation or domotics is building automation for a home, called a smart home or smart house. A home automation system will monitor and/or control home attributes such as lighting, climate, entertainment systems, and appliances. It m ...

company specializing in kitchen appliances including a "smart" oven, was acquired by Weber for $142.2 million. It exists as a “

strategic business unit A strategic business unit (SBU) in business strategic management, is a profit center which focuses on product offering and market segment. SBUs typically have a discrete marketing plan, analysis of competition, and marketing campaign, even though t ...

” within Weber. Co-founder Matt Van Horn is the president of June while the company's other co-founder, Nikhil Bhogal, is the senior vice president, technology and connected devices of Weber. Van Horn continued to focus on the June Oven while Bhogal works with Weber R&D programs and new products.

Initial public offering

On July 12, 2021, Weber-Stephens Products LLC announced it had filed a

Form S-1 Form S-1 is an SEC filing used by companies planning on going public to register their securities with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) as the "registration statement by the Securities Act of 1933". The S-1 contains the basic ...

with the Securities and Exchange Commission to make a public offering of Class A Shares on the

New York Stock Exchange The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE, nicknamed "The Big Board") is an American stock exchange in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It is by far the world's largest stock exchange by market capitalization of its listed c ...

with an expected ticker symbol WEBR. It began trading under symbol WEBR on August 5, 2021, opening at $17 per share compared to the IPO offering of $14 per share.

Publications

*''Weber's Art of the Grill: Recipes for Outdoor Living'', Jamie Purviance and Tim Turner, , 1999. *''Weber's Big Book of Grilling'', Jamie Purviance, Sandra S. McRae, and Tim Turner, , 2001. *''Weber's Art of the Grill Deck: Recipes for Outdoor Living'' (cards), Jamie Purviance and Tim Turner, , 2002. *''Weber's Real Grilling'', Jamie Purviance, Mike Kempster, and Tim Turner, , 2005. *''Weber's Charcoal Grilling: The Art of Cooking With Live Fire'', Jamie Purviance and Tim Turner, , 2007. *''Weber's Way to Grill: The Step-by-Step Guide to Expert Grilling'', Jamie Purviance, , 2009. *''Weber's Complete Barbecue Book: Step-by-step Advice and Over 150 Delicious Barbecue Recipes'', Jamie Purviance, , 2010. *''Weber's On the Grill: Chicken & Sides: Over 100 Fresh, Great Tasting Recipes'', Jamie Purviance, , 2010. *''Weber's On the Grill: Steak & Sides: Over 100 Fresh, Great Tasting Recipes'', Jamie Purviance, , 2010. *''Weber's Time to Grill: Get In. Get Out. Get Grilling.'', Jamie Purviance, , 2011. *''Weber's Smoke: A Guide to Smoke Cooking for Everyone and Any Grill'', Jamie Purviance, , 2012. *''Weber's Barbecue Anytime: Over 190 Inspirational Recipes to Help You Get the Most Out of Your Barbecue'', Jamie Purviance, , 2012. *''Weber's New Real Grilling: The ultimate cookbook for every backyard griller'', Jamie Purviance, , 2013.

References

External links

* {{Authority control American companies established in 1893 Palatine, Illinois Companies based in Cook County, Illinois Manufacturing companies established in 1893 Manufacturing companies based in Illinois Companies listed on the New York Stock Exchange Cooking appliance brands 1893 establishments in Illinois 2021 initial public offerings