Weber Grills at Costco - Serial Numbers and Production Dates


 
LeeHarvey

LeeHarvey

TVWBB Pro
I've noticed that the Genesis grills for sale at Costco this year have VI and UT serial number prefixes, despite being the 'defunct' Genesis II models. I have to think that the new ownership has a different philosophy on availability of replacement parts than the 'old' Weber, and they don't want to pay to warehouse that much parts inventory. Just my thought on the situation...

Now for the buried lede - I'm wondering if there is a history of Costco selling out old Weber stock. I had assumed that my Genny Platinum with a DZ prefix was sold through one of Weber's preferred dealers, but now I'm thinking that it may have been a limited run that they made for sale through Costco or another 'exclusive' retailer.
 
LeeHarvey said:
I've noticed that the Genesis grills for sale at Costco this year have VI and UT serial number prefixes, despite being the 'defunct' Genesis II models. I have to think that the new ownership has a different philosophy on availability of replacement parts than the 'old' Weber, and they don't want to pay to warehouse that much parts inventory. Just my thought on the situation...

Now for the buried lede - I'm wondering if there is a history of Costco selling out old Weber stock. I had assumed that my Genny Platinum with a DZ prefix was sold through one of Weber's preferred dealers, but now I'm thinking that it may have been a limited run that they made for sale through Costco or another 'exclusive' retailer.
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I think you're on to something with the warehousing of parts inventory.
 
My guess is the Genesis II models were a special, final run for Costco only.

The Genny II E335 I saw had a March 2023 build date on the sticker.
 
I agree with Dan that Costco has special market pricing and SKU private label power. And that Costco makes a commitment to buy hard inventory and does everything possible to reach 100% sell-through for any given product/season. I don't know Costco's turnover rate for merchandise per square foot but it has to be one of the highest in the retail industry. Items move from $X.99 to $X.97 quickly. They're a retailer, not a warehouse storage facility. And they provide extraordinary customer service.
 
I never said they were a warehouse storage facility. My thought was that Weber’s new private equity overlords don’t like the carrying costs of parts inventory, so they decided to turn them into saleable merchandise.
 
Actually large firms like Costco will contract with a company like Weber to do this. I recall a while back when Chevy restyled the Malibu. The rental agencies still wanted the older "boxier" style. So they had GM making what became a Malibu "Classic". You could not go out and buy one but the rental companies had them. Again when GM completely revamped the Impala from the that boxier style in 2015 to the hugely nicer looking and better driving one currently seen. They kept producing the old one strictly for large rental companies. They were simply called Impala "Classic". it gave us the ability to have a full size you could "upgrade" someone into for free and not lose your shirt. Again, you could not walk into a Chevy dealer and buy one. They were sold strictly to fleet customers. They kept that line going for another 2 years in both cases (Malibu and Impala). I am sure while inconvenient the mfgrs made out. Just like what I will bet Weber is doing with Costco
 
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