Weber unfair to its USA customers

[pbe gummi bear]

I'll take a slightly different tack on this.   Sure, Weber is a business and they have their reasons.  That said, it doesn't mean that Weber is right.   Businesses make silly/wrong decisions all the time.   Perhaps this is something that Weber should take another look at.    They've done so with the Weber Q which started out white but finally comes in multiple colors.

This is easy to do for the Q because the coating process is still a single spray coating. Its not porcelain like it is on the kettles which is a two coat process (black + color). Because of that, you'd have to spray and fire the kettle twice for each colored kettle. This effectively lowers your throughput by at least half on the same equipment- not counting down time, changeover time, and intermediate cooling / processing time. In the summer months Weber is likely at full production capacity churning out black kettles. It makes more sense for them to fire up the colors when its cold and business is lower- like with the mid winter timing of these colored MT's in Canada.

If you want to make more of an impact for what retailers stock, you should be petitions buyers and merchandising managers at these big box stores. They are the ones that dictate what they want to sell, how many they want to sell, and how much they are willing to pay for it. I'd start at the high end- Williams and Sonoma brands, Sur La Table, Crate and Barrel, and work downwards. Unfortunately these retails still don't have as much weight as the big box stores. I know someone who used to be the seasonal (including bbq and grills) buyer for one of these stores and it's extremely competitive to get your product on the shelves.

[Lemans]

Big Dawg nicely said....

[Craig]

Even back in the old MBH days of red, avocado/lime green, yellow brown etc, those color's were typically $10 more than a black kettle. Back then, outdoor grilling was still a growing/niche business compared to today. But in be last 22 years, gas grilling has had the upper hand compared to charcoal. More demand, different manufacturing/coloring process etc. So yes that's why it's easy to find a Q in just about any color now including good old bright red. Compared to kettles that are less in demand compared to gas, so black rules the roost these days. Now I want colored kettles here in the USA as much as the next guy but it has to make good business sense to Weber Stephen. They do read our site and others out there and Weber is listening to the grilling public as well as the die hards and taking things into account. Patience.


For the record: I want a colored modern 26"er. In Crimson or copper, green, slate, or smoke. Hell even Ivory. But that's a ways off if it ever happens. I can dream...

[demosthenes9]

I'll take a slightly different tack on this.   Sure, Weber is a business and they have their reasons.  That said, it doesn't mean that Weber is right.   Businesses make silly/wrong decisions all the time.   Perhaps this is something that Weber should take another look at.    They've done so with the Weber Q which started out white but finally comes in multiple colors.

This is easy to do for the Q because the coating process is still a single spray coating. Its not porcelain like it is on the kettles which is a two coat process (black + color). Because of that, you'd have to spray and fire the kettle twice for each colored kettle. This effectively lowers your throughput by at least half on the same equipment- not counting down time, changeover time, and intermediate cooling / processing time. In the summer months Weber is likely at full production capacity churning out black kettles. It makes more sense for them to fire up the colors when its cold and business is lower- like with the mid winter timing of these colored MT's in Canada.

I could be wrong about this but I'm pretty sure that color kettles aren't painted black to start out with.   

[toolhead]

Imo its down to sales volume...

Black probably outsells are all colors in the US ...if black dropped in sales volume and green and copper started outaelling black..business decision mayb be reviewee to start explaning colors

[charred]

Imo, there is NO legit reason the colors aren't sold here via the internet, at the very least.

Product is already produced in the U S of effing A for crissakes! 

Weber, I luv ya, but man you PISS ME OFF on this one.   

[captjoe06]

The issue I have is that the mid-line 22 inch kettle is offered in three colors but the more expensive mastertouch is only offered in black in the US.  I'd think the more expensive line old give you the more options.  As it s, now we have the option f buying in Canada, but where does that leave us if we need a warrantee claim?

[Josh G]

This has been an ongoing argument on here for years.  It's not going to happen move on.  400 members of which maybe 20 would buy an ivory is not going to change the way a global corporation operates.  How many guys on here would even buy a new one.  We would all be searching Craigslist for used ones.

You have been giving a gift.  All the colors you want are in Canada and will ship to your door for about $25 more than if you went to Home Depot and bought it.  Instead of complaining you should be jumping for joy that you were even given such an opportunity. 

[Lemans]

I have not even begun to fight!!!!

[GregS]

All the colors you want are in Canada and will ship to your door for about $25 more than if you went to Home Depot and bought it.  Instead of complaining you should be jumping for joy that you were even given such an opportunity.

actually, the shipping was about the same as my local sales tax would have been.

not sure why people are afraid to buy something from another country, half the stuff on Amazon ships from another country and nobody bats an eye. 

[Big Dawg]

This has been an ongoing argument on here for years.  It's not going to happen move on.  400 members of which maybe 20 would buy an ivory is not going to change the way a global corporation operates.  How many guys on here would even buy a new one.  We would all be searching Craigslist for used ones.

You have been giving a gift.  All the colors you want are in Canada and will ship to your door for about $25 more than if you went to Home Depot and bought it.  Instead of complaining you should be jumping for joy that you were even given such an opportunity.

Hey @Josh G,

So all the colors go to Canada, and all (well, the VAST majority anyways) of the American customers just want Black.

Just trying to figure out what that says about us Yanks.  Guess DirectTV is right. 

Or, maybe it simply goes back to Henry Ford, "Any customer can have a car painted any color that he wants so long as it is black."  After all, ole Henry did start Kingsford ! ! !

All that being said, I'm not really a collector.  I'd much rather Weber concentrate its efforts on getting a Gourmet System rack for the 26er.  I'd buy one of them, brand new, in the box, yesterday.





BD

[MacEggs]

Just trying to figure out what that says about us Yanks.

Don't ever refer to a Texan as a "Yank".  I did that once, and I was immediately given a history lesson.
I'm not American, but at least I know that you're not all Yankees ... Just sayin' ....

Hey, @Lemans , just order all the colours from Canada, and be happy with it. 
Then sell them in 5 years with a 100% mark-up.  Your fight with Weber is fruitless ...

[Davescprktl]

All the colors you want are in Canada and will ship to your door for about $25 more than if you went to Home Depot and bought it.  Instead of complaining you should be jumping for joy that you were even given such an opportunity.

actually, the shipping was about the same as my local sales tax would have been.

not sure why people are afraid to buy something from another country, half the stuff on Amazon ships from another country and nobody bats an eye.

Very true!  Got stuff from Amazon from the UK and who knows elsewhere.

[Big Dawg]

Sorry, @MacEggs.  While I am a proud D@mn Yankee, I was using the term as it was in Revolutionary times, not post War Between the States ! !





BD

[Troy]

Imo, there is NO legit reason the colors aren't sold here via the internet, at the very least.

Product is already produced in the U S of effing A for crissakes! 

Weber, I luv ya, but man you PISS ME OFF on this one.   

Who is going to hold the inventory of these colored grills?
Who will process and ship these orders?
Who will deal with returns and damaged goods?
How much larger will the customer service team need to be to accomodate all of these new processes and the inevitable challenges that come along with them?

That's probably $500,000 to $1M per year in overhead just to sell ,optimistically, a few hundred grills?
Doesn't sound like a money maker.

Don't forget that if Weber opens up their OWN distribution channel, their key distributors like Home Depot, Walmart, Target, Lowes, and Ace Hardware will likely be pretty pissed off.
It might even be already documented and prevented within distribution agreements.

I'm not saying it can't happen, or that it shouldn't happen. I'm just saying that there are a lot of complications and we CLEARLY do NOT know all of the factors.