![]() ![]() REC TECs are freighted to the customer's doorstep within four days of the order, depending on the address. Nearly all pellet-grill competitors sell through brick-and-mortar retail channels. Though customers occasionally purchase a grill at the Augusta showroom and distribution center - about 1,000 people showed up to a one-day "scratch-and-dent" sale in March - more than 95 percent of REC TECs are sold online through the company's website and third-party online retailers such as Amazon. "You just can't go to the lowest bidder." "You can build a quality product over there if you want to," he said. But Carnes said he went through 11 manufacturers before finding one that could meet his quality standards. Like most of REC TECs pellet-grill competitors, the grills are manufactured in China. ![]() REC TECs are the only models on the market with proportional integral derivative (or PID) temperature controllers, rust-resistant 304 stainless steel on critical parts, baked-on porcelain enamel exteriors and a six-year warranty. The pellets impart a wood-smoke flavor and are temperature-controlled by an electronically regulated hopper that feeds a combustion chamber. Like other pellet grills, Carnes' uses hardwood pellets as a fuel source instead of charcoal or propane. "I was thinking it would be a cool animal to represent," he said.īut it's what's inside a REC TEC that makes it unique. The buddies and former roommates used the first names of their children - Cundy's Ross and Ella, and Carnes' Colden - as the basis of the "REC" in the company name.Īs for the grills' bull logo and bovine-esque styling - the cover handles are bullhorn-shaped - that's all Carnes. The 45-year-old entrepreneur said he couldn't have launched REC TEC without financial help from his childhood friend, Ron Cundy, a practicing attorney now living in Atlanta. Carnes picked it up from a plumbing supply company by trading a grill for it. The forklift, by the way, was well-worn and had bent forks. "I can remember being on the phone with a customer on a forklift while loading a grill onto a truck," he recalled. REC TEC Operations Manager Ben Lesshafft - technically the company's first "employee" - recalls working in a building that today wouldn't be large enough to house the company's inventory of signature spice rubs and sauces. Long before the 30-employee company was getting celebrity shout-outs, mentions in Forbes magazine and appearances on TV shows such as HGTV's Yard Crashers, there was the company's spartan 3,000-square-foot office off Bobby Jones Expressway. "It took me one year to sell the first 90," Carnes acknowledged. Carnes however said gross sales last year were in the low eight-figure range. The privately held REC TEC, which operates out of 55,000 square feet in the Masters Industrial Park off River Watch Parkway, doesn't disclose its financials. The association's recent survey suggests 11 percent of grill buyers plan to purchase one in the coming year. The Arlington, Va.-based Hearth, Patio & Barbecue Association says pellet grills account for less than 3 percent of all grill sales but are quickly growing in popularity. Brantley Gilbert's REC TEC Bull gets three seconds of screen time in his video for The Weekend. REC TEC counts country stars Rodney Atkins, Craig Wayne Boyd and Luke Combs among its customers. Pro golfer and unabashed carnivore John Daly keeps a REC TEC Mini pellet grill in his RV. The Augusta-based company's two signature "pellet-grill" products - the full-size RT-680 ("The Bull") and the smaller RT-300 ("The Mini") - have developed a cult-like following among aficionados in the small but growing segment of the outdoor grilling market. If the double-digit growth in annual sales since the first REC TEC was sold in 2011 is an indication, Carnes has indeed made the ultimate grill. "I'm sitting on the couch thinking, 'What am I going to do?' Then I said, 'I'm going to make the ultimate grill - the grill that didn't exist at the time.'" "The economy tanked and all of a sudden I couldn't give away a car," Carnes said. The Great Recession turned out to be the best thing to happen to Ray Carnes' career he stopped selling used cars and set out to build the barbecue grill he always wished he could buy. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |