User:Catalan/BBQGuys
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Retail |
| Predecessor | ShoppersChoice.com |
| Founded | 2004[1] |
| Founder | Mike Hackley[2] |
| Headquarters | , |
| Owner | Mike Hackley |
Number of employees | 140[2] (2016[2]) |
| Website | bbqguys.com |
BBQGuys is a barbecue grill retailer headquartered in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
History
[edit]In 1998, husband and wife Michael and Ladina Hackley founded the Grill Store & More in Baton Rouge,[1] on Tiger Bend Road. The couple were inspired to start their own barbecue grill retailer after passing by a Barbecues Galore store in Des Moines, Iowa. When Grill Store & More suffered financial difficulties during the dot-com bubble, Michael Hackley transitioned his business to e-commerce under the bbqguys.com website. Online success resulted in the closure of the company's three brick and mortar stores within a year.[2]
Selling from their homes in 2003,[2] Shopperschoice.com was launched in 2004.[1] Between 2003 and 2016, Shopperschoice.com grew from five to 140 employees. Mike Hackley and Corey Tisdale founded Blaze Outdoor Products to manufacture grills, smokers, and drawers.[2] The company was named Small Business of the Week by the United States Senate Committee in 2019, by which time it was in its 11th consecutive year on the Inc. 5000 list for 11 consecutive years.[3][4] The same year, Shopperschoice.com consolidated its brand under BBQGuys.com, the original name of the company.[5]
BBQGuys expanded its headquarters in September 2019[6] to accommodate 50 new customer support positions in the company.[7] According to Louisiana Economic Development, the expansion also created 22 jobs indirectly.[8]
References
[edit]- ^ a b c Suttles, Claire (April 2014). "Going the Extra Mile". Business in Focus. Retrieved May 10, 2020.
- ^ a b c d e f Boone, Timothy (March 12, 2016). "ShoppersChoice.com planting seeds for continued growth". The Advocate. Retrieved May 10, 2020.
- ^ Milstein, Alex (May 1, 2019). "BBQGuys named Small Business of the Week". Casual Living. Retrieved May 10, 2020.
- ^ "Sen. Kennedy Applauds Louisiana Business Selected as Senate Small Business Of The Week". John Kennedy. April 30, 2019. Retrieved May 11, 2020.
- ^ Boone, Timothy (Jan 21, 2019). "ShoppersChoice.com consolidating brands under BBQGuys name". The Advocate. Retrieved May 10, 2020.
- ^ WAFB Staff (September 25, 2019). "BBQGuys to expand Baton Rouge headquarters, create new jobs". WAFB9. Retrieved May 10, 2020.
- ^ Area Development News Desk (September 26, 2019). "BBQGuys Expands Operations Center in Baton Rouge, Louisiana". AreaDevelopment. Retrieved May 10, 2020.
- ^ Associated Press (September 27, 2019). "Louisiana-Based Online Retailer Expands Headquarters". U.S. News. Retrieved May 10, 2020.