Barbeque grills are as much a part of American life as 4th of July celebrations and apple pie, but there was a time when this was not the case. Webber Grills were not always the crème de le crème of the barbeque world.
The products of Weber Stephens were begun in Palatine Illinois in the late 1800s. This company was an industry of sheet metal that did lots of custom work in the area of Chicago. In 1950, the company co-owner George Stephen turned into frustrated by the unequal cooking and out of control flame of the open brazier grills. He decided to create a better grill for his personal backyard.
The company he worked for and owned had been creating half spheres that were welded together to form buoys that were used in Lake Michigan. Using this concept, he cut one of the buoys in half and then fabricated a dome shaped lid with handle for a cover. This would be the very first of the kettle Webber Grills.
The popularity of the Webber grill parts took off more rapidly than Stephens had anticipated and theses units were selling faster than he could create them. In 1952 he made Webber grills the company division to supply the growing demand.
A few years later Stephens would buy the company from the Webber brothers and become sole owner at which time, he changed the name to Webber Stephen Product Co.
For the next two decades, the reputation of Webber grill and sales continued to get bigger. By 70‘s Webber Grills had spread from a simple product to a national Midwest. Retail stores from all-around the country started selling the grills. Shortly, the name of Webber was a common term for barbecue grill.
Today Webber grill still holds a special place in the hearts of grillers everywhere. Though the kettle was, the first model grill time and technology have allowed the company to expand a bit. You can now purchase these grills in all sorts of shapes, sizes and fuel types.
In the last few years, an interesting side business has begun to grow from Webber Grills that are the Webber Grill Restaurant. Wheeling Illinois built the first of these restaurants with three more popping up in cities around the state. By 2007, the franchise had left the state of Illinois with a grill being opened in Indianapolis.
Webber Grills are a family owned business dedicated to quality products, which is evidenced by customer satisfaction and the longevity of the business.