Weber has sadly lost its way. A major icon in the US and across the globe for its kettle grill and decades within the founding Stephen family, it took management only a year after going public to blow up all the family worked for. Driven largely by a very narrowly defined business model (we are a grill maker only), the company has failed to expand its horizons. And even as a grill maker, it plays catch-up to Traeger and in items like pizza ovens. Management doesn't understand the world of FMCG, so could never get themselves a win in accessories. When COVID sales boomed, the company failed to realize that with a (very) long repurchase cycle, grill sales are now going to stand still for 5-10 years. They hired like crazy, then had major layoffs. They are first and foremost an engineering company - they will develop and develop and develop a grill, to the point of missing the entire market opportunity. Too US focused - the entire 'global' marketing team was made up of US employees.
