rwalters
Quintessential Chatty Farker
I am sure the Brethren will have differing opinions on this. For me, I am surprised and disappointed to hear this!! Apparently they announced this to dealers a couple of months ago...
This kind of sucks. I'm actually in the process of building an outdoor kitchen with a Memphis Elite as the centerpiece. (waiting on arrival of the second unit because first one was damage badly during shipping)
I would certainly say that Memphis Elite being built in the U.S. was one of the reasons I was willing to pay the premium.
I really can't think of any steel product that was made in the U.S., and was worth buying, that off shored production to China and returned to the U.S. with the same standards or quality.
Our company has spent hundreds of thousands of dollars over the years dealing with Chinese manufacturers for our low line products. What an expensive, time consuming headache, and still ongoing.
I've used Memphis Grills at the American Royal, and hung out for multiple days with their employees. While I don't automatically put Chinese made products in a lower class, I am surprised by this move. That company in particular seemed very proud of their space in the American made niche product landscape. I would imagine they are either trying to really expand their lineup and/or market share, or they are in financial trouble.
I wonder how much it has to do with there being more pellet grills on the market now (especially cheap foreign made ones), making it a more competitive landscape than it once was.