Weber-Stephen Products

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 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. 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‘.

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.

On July 12, 2021, Weber-Stephens Products LLC announced it had filed a Form S-1 with the Securities and Exchange Commission to make a public offering of Class A Shares on the New York Stock Exchange 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.

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