History
Barbeques Galore was started in a garage in Sydney's outer western suburbs in 1972. The first company store opened in 1977. The company expanded to the United States in 1980, opening a store in Santa Fe Springs, California, a suburb of Los Angeles. The firm concentrated initially on warm-weather US states such as California, Nevada, Arizona, Hawaii, Texas, Georgia and Florida. Later they ventured into more seasonal markets such as North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland and Washington DC. After ten years as a listed company on the Australian Stock Exchange, Barbeques Galore delisted in 1996, and soon after listed on the US NASDAQ. In late 2005, the firm was delisted from the NASDAQ after a leveraged buy-out by Australian venture capital firm, Ironbridge Capital. Ironbridge Capital split the Australian and US arms of the business into two separate entities (but retained ownership of both).
Following a severe downturn in business in the US, partly attributed to the fall in new housing on the back of the sub-prime mortgage crisis, Barbeques Galore USA filed for protection under Chapter 11 on August 15, 2008. Barbeques Galore US assets were purchased by Grand Home Holdings Inc. on September 12, 2008. The US company is currently liquidating all of its retail outlets east of Texas, including Maryland, Virginia and Georgia.
According to documents filed in US Bankruptcy court, the company will continue to exist as Barbeques Galore as owned by Grand Home Holdings Inc. operating 40 stores in California, Arizona and Texas.
The retail stores going forward are honoring all warranties, existing store credits or gift cards purchased prior to and after the Chapter 11 filing. This is unusual as it is not a requirement for the new ownership purchasing the assets and the intellectual property of the business.
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