LazyMan Grills Works Hard to Practice U.S. Manufacturing the Old-Fashioned Way

Small Business Saturday is a big priority for LazyMan Grills, the company that invented the outdoor gas grill. The firm is in Belvidere, but owner Brian Sadowski and more than a third of LazyMan's staff live in Hopatcong Borough—meaning their livelihoods and that of local families depend on this small business' success.

"We are very much a local business," said Operations Director Brian Haun, another proud son of Hopatcong. "Probably the most famous customer in the area is the Lake Hopatcong Yacht Club."

Haun offered a history lesson, starting with the information that LazyMan Grills was born in 1932 in the Windy City that manufactured commercial burners.

"In 1939 we launched a product called the Broilburger, the cooking stove that help start Insta-Burger King, which we know today as Burger King," he said, noting that the firm  moved to New Jersey in 1949. "In 1954 we launched the world's first outdoor gas grill, a model we still produce today. We build everything in our factory in Belvidere, taking in the raw material and outputting a finished grill."

The company has survived more than eight decades under three generations of the McGlaughlin family, which operated LazyMan until Brian Sadowski took ownership, and it has managed to continue to thrive in spite of the recent economic downturn.

"Like all small business, we are struggling with the repercussions of the recession," Haun said, but he noted that keeping its accomplishments in mind and staying connected to old and new customers keep LazyMan in fighting shape.

"We have a rich history and a strong sense of community."