I've been carrying around my Stainless Performer to cook at work and down at the river and it has just been a pain in the butt! So today I decided to buy a Silver that isn't as heavy and easier to carry. I went to my local Ace Hardware and the only kettle they had was an 18 1/2" kettle for $118. I asked a salesman if that was right and he said yes. I told him they could be had for cheaper than that and he said that was Weber's price and they had to sell it for that. Yeah, right! Went down to the Wal-Mart 3 miles away and got the Silver for $84 and some change.
Don't get me wrong, they do have hard to find Weber items if you don't want buy off Ebay, but if you are selling something like this you would think they would want to be competitive, especially with a Wally World down the street..
Anybody else noticed this?

Same thing happened to me at my local Ace hardware. Last December, I wanted to purchase a 22 1/2" silver and their price was something like $130. I mentioned that the price sounded high and that their website showed the price at $85. I also asked if it could have been mis-priced as a gold, however, they had the gold priced around $150. But the salesman's comment was 'that's the price the boss wants us to sell it at".

Needless to say I made my silver purchase elsewhere. Although, I did purchase a SJP at $39 during the Memorial Day sale.

Yes I have noticed that also. I bought my 18.5 OTS at Home Depot for 65 bucks. I just checked their site and you can still buy one for the same price.

I usually buy my grills from Amazon.com, but now we have to pay sales tax thanks to our new governor. Therefore, when I decide to buy a gasser I think that I will drive to Erie, PA to pick one up.

The Tru-Value down the road sells the OTS 18.5 for $84.99.

I hear that Gary McD. I am wondering when the commmon sense goes out the window and they want to tax us charcoal users for our "Carbon Footprint" It really is only a matter of time!