Barbecue set brand Weber will open its first Dutch Original Store on 16 March, on the Kaliumweg in Amersfoort.
Sale and brand experience
The 500 sqm store will be its first in the Netherlands, but it will not only sell barbecue appliances. The store, open every day except Sunday, will also feature a Weber Grill Academy with workshops for consumers.
The Original Stores formula combines a sales area with brand experience thanks to the Weber Grill Academy. “This Weber Original Store is not Weber property. It is a Grill Academy, with an adjoining store run by an independent owner. The focus is on the Grill Academy and how to give barbecue fans the optimal consumer experience”, Weber said in RetailDetail Magazine.
More Stores to follow
Weber plans to open more Original Stores across Belgium and the Netherlands. Shop-in-shops in retail locations in the Benelux and Germany are also part of its retail strategy, it explained. Construction markets, garden centers, department stores, specialty stores and their online channels all fit that strategy.
The barbecue company’s Original Stores and Grill Academies can be found all over Europe. It has 3 Weber Original Stores in Germany, with another 2 stores in Kassel and Grundau. The Stores’ product range includes Weber barbecues, accessories and clothing, but also meat specialties like American Beef Premium Steak, Iberico barbecue sausages or BBQ shrimp burgers.
Food in supermarkets and online
Weber’s presence in the Netherlands includes fourteen Grill Academies to teach consumers how to barbecue. Weber currently has 39 Grill Academies in Europe: 24 in Germany, 9 in Belgium, 1 in Luxembourg, 1 in Mallorca and locations in Austria and Switzerland.
Weber also sells food (like hamburgers, sauces, herbs and spices) in German supermarkets, a product range that is also available in Weber partners’ stores in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. German consumers can even order Weber food products online at mytime.de.
