Not looking good for Weber at my Lowe’s store


 
Jon Tofte

Jon Tofte

TVWBB 1-Star Olympian
I stopped in briefly at the Lowe’s in Terre Haute, IN. Looks like they are just starting to reorganize the grill section. I saw only 2 Weber grills (there may have been others), a new Genesis and a Spirit. No SmokeFire anything. A few months ago this section was full of Weber brand pellets. It is obvious Lowe’s has switched allegiance on pellets:

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There were no more clearance items that I saw. Much more shelf space given to Blackstone and Charbroil accessories:

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They did have a couple sets of the new Weber tools. I think the new spatula is a definite improvement:

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Lowe’s is the only big box store close to me that carried a decent amount of Weber items. To those of you who have Home Depot near you, please let us know what you are seeing at your stores.
 
IMO, Home Depot is edging that way as well. I was in my local HD a couple days ago. They still have a dedicated weber section for accessories and parts, but selections are very limited. So far, it looks like they are giving less space to the Weber brands than they used to. We will see when they fill up their summer inventory. They did have a 2022 Genesis and I did a real quick look over. It feels pretty good. The lid felt substantial and I see that even the porcelain coated lids have a liner now. That will likely help with the "Fade". I just hope they didn't go to a cheaper porcelain or thinner porcelain in conjunction with the liner. The cabinet seemed OK, but with the rust problem, I just don't like the idea of a cabinet. It had CI grates, so not much to talk about there. I did not take time to lift the grates.
 
Like most everyplace else it seems, they are going towards cheaper, easier to move products than more higher quality and price items. On a side note. Bear Mountain pellets are a very good pellet in my opinion
 
"That will likely help with the "Fade"."

Not sure how a liner will help with a problem caused by UV light on the dyes in the porcelain?

"than more higher quality and price items"

As Weber moves more and more toward being a more cheaply made product but trying to stand on it's laurels to charge the "premium" price it has previously. The line between the Nexgrill, CharBroil and so on continues to blur and that makes a premium priced product that isn't really a premium product much harder to sell.
 
ChuckH said:
Like most everyplace else it seems, they are going towards cheaper, easier to move products than more higher quality and price items. On a side note. Bear Mountain pellets are a very good pellet in my opinion
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Yes, I agree on the Bear Mountain pellets, although the Weber ones are excellent, too, just overpriced.
 
Has anyone seen problems using other branded pellets in the Smokefires more so than the Weber brand?
 
LMichaels said:
"That will likely help with the "Fade"."

Not sure how a liner will help with a problem caused by UV light on the dyes in the porcelain?

"than more higher quality and price items"

As Weber moves more and more toward being a more cheaply made product but trying to stand on it's laurels to charge the "premium" price it has previously. The line between the Nexgrill, CharBroil and so on continues to blur and that makes a premium priced product that isn't really a premium product much harder to sell.
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Precisely. And the main thing Weber has always had going for them, customer, will be be of no consideration as customers shop price. Of course there will always be a market segment that puts Weber out front based on experience...but if it's only the Ace Hardwares of the world and the big box retailers limit or eliminate Weber sales...uh oh.
 
Jon Tofte said:
I stopped in briefly at the Lowe’s in Terre Haute, IN. Looks like they are just starting to reorganize the grill section. I saw only 2 Weber grills (there may have been others), a new Genesis and a Spirit. No SmokeFire anything. A few months ago this section was full of Weber brand pellets. It is obvious Lowe’s has switched allegiance on pellets:

View attachment 46099

There were no more clearance items that I saw. Much more shelf space given to Blackstone and Charbroil accessories:

View attachment 46100

View attachment 46101

They did have a couple sets of the new Weber tools. I think the new spatula is a definite improvement:

View attachment 46102

Lowe’s is the only big box store close to me that carried a decent amount of Weber items. To those of you who have Home Depot near you, please let us know what you are seeing at your stores.
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I was in ACE a week and a half ago, and the one that is 20 minutes from me carries a large bbq section. They carry BGE, Blackstone, Traeger, and Weber.

Of the Weber they carry gas, e6's, kettles, portables, and WSM's. Haven't been in a Home Depot or Lowes in many months.
 
Brock Gingery said:
I was in ACE a week and a half ago, and the one that is 20 minutes from me carries a large bbq section. They carry BGE, Blackstone, Traeger, and Weber.

Of the Weber they carry gas, e6's, kettles, portables, and WSM's. Haven't been in a Home Depot or Lowes in many months.
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yeah ACE is great
 
Weber isn’t the only manufacturer that uses less costly materials and charges more. It’s business, EVERY business does the exact same thing. I chuckle when Weber is bashed on here for making smart business decisions. Craziness.

The liner isn’t to protect the outer porcelain. It’s to radiate heat back into the cook chamber, so you use less gas to maintain heat. Theoretically so anyways. If “fade” were a function of internal heat, they wouldn’t be able to be shined up from the outside...it would go deeper than that.
 
Bruce said:
Has anyone seen problems using other branded pellets in the Smokefires more so than the Weber brand?
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Nope. Runs everything I’ve fed it. Now that’s not to say I haven’t had the bridging “issue”, I certainly have, but I tend it like I tend charcoal only had to realize that pushing on top wouldn’t address it adequately; I now push my fingers down into the pellets and not a single issue.
 
Bruce said:
Has anyone seen problems using other branded pellets in the Smokefires more so than the Weber brand?
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Some folks say they've had problems. I'm in the same boat as Tim. Both of my grills work the same with any brand of pellets I put in them. Sunday I'll try a bag of Bear Mountain. I put UHMW tape on the long slope of my EX6 hopper and waxed the hopper interior on my EX4 and I don't have bridging problems.
 
I will be by HD this weekend down here they should be setup for grilling selling season as usually they have the floor plan done by end of February. Lowes would be the same what they have on display is what they are stocking for the season.

If you read the Weber earnings report which was horrible they have already raised prices twice in the last year with another coming soon if I remember. However the cheaper grills will be doing the same as sure most of those are made in China also its all about the container costs which have tripled so everyone is getting killed on freight charges sure the material costs have risen also.
 
Bruce said:
Has anyone seen problems using other branded pellets in the Smokefires more so than the Weber brand?
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Weber Pellets are produced by Lumberjack, as are Broil King, and Cabelas. They are a smaller diameter pellet that seem to work better in all makes of grills.
 
Was in one of our San Jose Home Depots yesterday. They moved all Weber accessories to a visually prominent end-cap on the grilling accessories aisle and have a second end-cap displaying kettles and WSM. Only a few Weber gas grills on the floor, including just one of the new Genesis models without tech. What was a big surprise was in the grilling aisle they dedicated two full sections to Traeger pellets and accessories. Never seen that before here in San Jose.
 
Brian B Atlanta said:
I will be by HD this weekend down here they should be setup for grilling selling season as usually they have the floor plan done by end of February. Lowes would be the same what they have on display is what they are stocking for the season.

If you read the Weber earnings report which was horrible they have already raised prices twice in the last year with another coming soon if I remember. However the cheaper grills will be doing the same as sure most of those are made in China also its all about the container costs which have tripled so everyone is getting killed on freight charges sure the material costs have risen also.
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I looked over that. Other than discussing the new Genesis, so little was about product. The bean counters run the place and just like Chrysler in the early 70s, that portends poor quality and lack of innovation.
 
Jon Tofte said:
The bean counters run the place and just like Chrysler in the early 70s, that portends poor quality and lack of innovation.
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Absolutely and I see no reason to "justify" this type of thing. Sorry, if you want to charge premium pricing for a product (I don't care what the product is) then deliver a premium product. End of story. I don't mind buying a "budget" product if was MY choice to do so. IOW if I go into a Kia dealer I am not going to expect a Lexus or Toyota. I know what I am buying. But if I walk into a Lexus shop and end up seeing Kia quality definitely NOT a happy camper. In essence this is what has been happening. Sorry for the car analogy or if you disagree with my interpretation.
 
Jon Tofte said:
I looked over that. Other than discussing the new Genesis, so little was about product. The bean counters run the place and just like Chrysler in the early 70s, that portends poor quality and lack of innovation.
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Jon that’s 1971 to be exact on the Mopars. But until 71 the dealerships were beautiful lined up with Cudas and RR’s 👀😎👍🏻
 
Chris Allingham said:
Was in one of our San Jose Home Depots yesterday. They moved all Weber accessories to a visually prominent end-cap on the grilling accessories aisle and have a second end-cap displaying kettles and WSM. Only a few Weber gas grills on the floor, including just one of the new Genesis models without tech. What was a big surprise was in the grilling aisle they dedicated two full sections to Traeger pellets and accessories. Never seen that before here in San Jose.
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Unfortunately Chris, most of the world tends to focus on the wrong thing and as such often choose efficiency over effectiveness.

Efficiency is trying to be perfect with the least amount of input, while efectivenea s means to achieve perfect things.

Instead of learning or developing a skill over time, most people these days want to press a button and have it done for them. Me, I like knowing I can build a fire and cook a chunk of meat over it on a stick if I have to. Just different mindsets, and the sad obsession with technology our society has. Fortunately there are some like you and others here who are trying to keep some "old fashioned" know how alive, and have a way to pass it on to those younger who suddenly wake up one day to find pushing a button isn't as fun as it used to be.
 
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