Viking Range Corp., long known for its high-quality line of kitchen appliances, entered the luxury grill business about 2 years ago. Viking also makes outdoor refrigerators and woks. The result is the company's Sculpture Series of grills. To Bullard, the grill's curved, stainless-steel lines resemble the human body, the violin and the lines on some of the older Jaguar cars. The company will sell only about 500 this year.
Buyers tend to be serious cooks, often urban professionals.
A lot of the grills are sold in hip areas such as Miami and even Moscow. Bullard said he doesn't think any have been sold in the Detroit area yet. Instead of vacations, middle-class Americans are investing in luxury grills and other amenities for their backyards, she said. In upscale neighborhoods, when one home owner installs a super-premium grill, a few of the neighbors are likely to follow, Myers said. Still, as fabulous as super-premium grills are, few consumers can afford them.