BBQGuys

BBQGuys is a barbecue grill retailer headquartered in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. It was founded in 1998 by Air Force veteran Michael Hackley[5] and his wife, Ladina Hackley, as the Grill Store & More, and later rebranded as BBQGuys as the store transitioned to online retail during the dot-com bubble. In 2019, BBQGuys was awarded the Small Business of the Week by the United States Senate Committee. In late 2020, the company was acquired by private equity firm Brand Velocity Partners.

BBQGuys
TypePrivate
IndustryRetail
PredecessorShoppersChoice.com
Founded1998[1]
FounderMike Hackley and Ladina Hackley[2]
Headquarters
Baton Rouge
,
United States
OwnerBrand Velocity Partners[3]
Number of employees
239[4] (2019[4])
Websitebbqguys.com

History
BBQGuys' expanded warehouse.

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,[2] and started their business without financial or investor capital.[5] 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 on the Inc. 5000 list for 11 consecutive years.[6][7] The same year, Shopperschoice.com consolidated its brand under BBQGuys.com, the original name of the company.[8]

BBQGuys expanded its headquarters in September 2019[9] to accommodate 50 new customer support positions in the company.[10] According to Louisiana Economic Development, the expansion also created 22 jobs indirectly.[11] During the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic, BBQGuys was able to continue hiring,[12] while transitioning about 90 percent of their team to remote work.[13][14] Warehouse workers unable to work from home were protected by new safety guidelines, facility procedures, and sanitation infrastructure.[14]

2020 Brand Velocity Acquisition

Original owner Michael Hackley sold BBQGuys to Brand Velocity Partners (BVP) in August 2020,[15] a private equity firm. BVP also purchased BBQGuys' sister company, Blaze Outdoor.[3]

References
  1. Suttles, Claire (April 2014). "Going the Extra Mile". Business in Focus. Retrieved May 10, 2020.
  2. Boone, Timothy (March 12, 2016). "ShoppersChoice.com planting seeds for continued growth". The Advocate. Retrieved May 10, 2020.
  3. Melton, James (October 5, 2020). "Private equity investor Brand Velocity Partners acquires BBQGuys". Digital Commerce 360. Retrieved October 28, 2020.
  4. "Gov. Edwards, BBQGuys Announce Baton Rouge Headquarters Expansion". Office of the Governor. September 19, 2019. Retrieved July 1, 2020.
  5. VoyageHouston (July 2020). "Meet Mike Hackley of BBQGuys". VoyageHouston. Retrieved July 15, 2020.
  6. Milstein, Alex (May 1, 2019). "BBQGuys named Small Business of the Week". Casual Living. Retrieved May 10, 2020.
  7. "Sen. Kennedy Applauds Louisiana Business Selected as Senate Small Business Of The Week". John Kennedy. April 30, 2019. Retrieved May 11, 2020.
  8. Boone, Timothy (Jan 21, 2019). "ShoppersChoice.com consolidating brands under BBQGuys name". The Advocate. Retrieved May 10, 2020.
  9. WAFB Staff (September 25, 2019). "BBQGuys to expand Baton Rouge headquarters, create new jobs". WAFB9. Retrieved May 10, 2020.
  10. Area Development News Desk (September 26, 2019). "BBQGuys Expands Operations Center in Baton Rouge, Louisiana". AreaDevelopment. Retrieved May 10, 2020.
  11. Associated Press (September 27, 2019). "Louisiana-Based Online Retailer Expands Headquarters". U.S. News. Retrieved May 10, 2020.
  12. Gremillion, Nick (April 23, 2020). "Baton Rouge-based BBQGuys looking to fill 15 positions; some include work from home opportunities". WAFB9. Retrieved July 1, 2020.
  13. Boone, Timothy (April 5, 2020). "Coronavirus forces Louisiana companies to set up remote work capabilities overnight". The Advocate. Retrieved July 1, 2020.
  14. Birmingham-Reyes, Christy (September 23, 2020). "How BBQGuys Expanded Its Team During the COVID-19 Pandemic". When Business Inspires. Retrieved September 23, 2020.
  15. Boone, Timothy (August 31, 2020). "BBQGuys.com sold to undisclosed buyer". The Advocate. Retrieved October 28, 2020.
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