Barbeques Galore keeps grilling hot

Barbeques Galore is heating up specialty grill sales in Las Vegas

Cinde W. Ingram -- Casual Living, 7/1/2008 12:00:00 AM

Barbeques Galore is heating up specialty grill sales in Las Vegas with four stores, which serve customers from as far north as Canada.

Grill island inside Barbeques Galore’s first Las Vegas store illustrates the outdoor living concept.

International visitors from as far away as Germany stop by the chain’s nearly 20-year-old original Las Vegas location on South Decatur Boulevard. They buy grill products ranging from the store’s proprietary line of Turbo grills to Big Green Eggs, said Felicia Christensen, store director. The Turbo Elite offers commercial-quality 304-grade stainless steel and is available in 3- to 5-burner configurations. Other grill brands the retailer sells include Broil King, Lynx, Viking and Weber.

“We service and have everything to repair their grills,” Christensen said. She added no parts are available to serve the four to six people who come in nearly every day searching for parts to repair grills they bought at mass merchant stores.

While nearby casual furniture retailers reported a decline in their grill sales this year, Barbeques Galore was sticking to its single focus. The concept of outdoor living areas appears inside the store via barstools paired with custom or ready-built grill island options.

Store displays include plenty of grills outside and in, plus large lifestyle grill-related photographs. Near the back of the store, customers can find all the accessories grillers need, from cleaning products to seasonings, marinades, grilling tools and cookbooks.

Barbeques Galore’s 2008 Complete Guide to the Control of Fire sums up the nearly 30-year-old company’s philosophy. “At Barbeques Galore, we take grilling seriously. So you can go out in the backyard and have some fun.”

Grill accessories include seasonings, grilling tools and cookbooks.

To help with that goal, the Barbeques Galore Outdoor Cooking School was established in California to teach customers how to take their kitchen to the patio with the help of classically trained chef and The Next Food Network star runner-up Carissa Giacalone. Private events and classes teach novices how to marinade, rub, skewer, smoke, rotisserie and grill like a pro.

Staff members grill out regularly at this and the approximately 70 other Barbeques Galore scattered across the nation in Nevada, Texas, Georgia and Florida.