History
The original round kettle grill was built by George Stephen Sr., a part-owner of a 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. George's neighbors called it ‘Sputnik‘. 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.
In 1989, the company opened the first Weber Grill Restaurant in Wheeling, Illinois. Later, three more locations were built in Lombard, Illinois (1999), downtown Chicago (2002), and Schaumburg, Illinois (2005). Another Weber Grill Restaurant opened in Indianapolis in July 2007. Webers are traditional 30th birthday presents in certain parts of the world.
Read more about this topic: Weber-Stephen Products LLC
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