W.C. Bradley Co., the parent company of Outdoor Brands, LLC (Charbroil and Oklahoma Joe’s) acquired Dansons in the summer of 2023. The Dansons portfolio included grill brands like Pit Boss and Louisiana Grills, but it also included other non-grill brands like Surelock Security.
While the grill brands obviously made sense with the other brands in the Outdoor Brands portfolio, it didn’t seem like Surlock was a natural fit. Surelock makes gun safes, so it’s an adjacent outdoor category, but not plug and play.
Outdoor Brands must have decided that there wasn’t enough overlap with their existing brands, because they have sold Surelock to Meyer Distributing Inc. where it appears to be a better fit.
We are pleased that Meyer Distributing Inc. is dedicated to continuing the Surelock Security Co. legacy. The sale offers a wonderful collaboration between two strong and successful brands, allowing Outdoor Brands, LLC to reinvest in its core products and fulfill the needs of its customers in the outdoor markets.
Tom Penner, Group President, Outdoor Brands, LLC
Meyer Distributing has over 1,000 different product lines, including international automotive, powersports, RV, and towing distribution. Surelock will be a good addition to their diverse product offerings.
Acquiring Surelock Security Co. is a natural expansion of the Meyer Distributing offering, and we are very excited about the opportunities it will provide the company. The completion of this sale reflects our ongoing commitment to providing world-class innovative products to Surelock Security Co. customers.
Nicholas A. Gramelspacher, Vice President of Brand Strategy, Meyer Distributing Inc.
For Outdoor Brands, the sale gives them some additional capital for their grill brands. It’s a tough market with headwinds on the sales side and on input costs from tariffs.
They’re the latest company to make moves to focus their portfolio to navigate through the turbulence. Middleby has been actively reviewing their residential portfolio, while Traeger has consolidated MEATER, and is making other major moves to their business model.