Fireworks sales explode across US as coronavirus pandemic cancels displays, owners say

The Fourth of July is right around the corner and revelers are flocking to fireworks stands to snatch up all manner of sparklers and big-boom firecrackers — a lot more than usual, owners say.

Bruce Zoldan, CEO of Ohio-based Phantom Fireworks, said merchandise started flying off the shelves as soon as stores opened, with daily sales surging 200% to 400% higher than last year, The Detroit News reported.

“As we opened stores, we saw this overwhelming demand for fireworks,” Zoldan told the outlet. “I’m not sure the consumer side of the fireworks business will have enough inventory when we get to what are typical big days, the last week before the Fourth of July.”

Owners are crediting stimulus checks and canceled public fireworks shows for the uptick in sales.

“The stimulus is out. That’s definitely helping us,” Pro Fireworks Regional Manager Robert Bahnke told Detroit News. “With all of the cities canceling their displays, people are pretty much making their own this year.”

Frank Woodard, 58, dropped $1,200 on fireworks at a Pro Fireworks location in Michigan, in preparation for shows for his 11 grandchildren, according to the outlet.

“I am a VIP status around here,” he told The Detroit News.

It’s a similar story in Pennsylvania, where Joe Van Oudenhove, managing director of Sky Kings fireworks, said he’s seen a huge increase in sales, Lehigh Valley Live reported.

He attributes it to pandemic-induced boredom.

“People who have been stuck at home are willing to get out of the house for a day and take a drive to buy some fireworks,” Van Oudenhove said, according to Lehigh Valley Live. “Anything related to entertainment is canceled.”

The spike in sales comes as complaints about fireworks are being reported across the U.S., CNN reported. In Boston, calls to police about fireworks were up by 2,300% in May compared to last year, while Pasadena, California, has noted a 400% increase in such calls.

Julie L. Heckman, executive director of the American Pyrotechnics Association, said industry insiders were already expecting a big year due to the Fourth of July falling on a Saturday, the outlet reported.

“We were anticipating that this would potentially be a record-breaking year,” she told Lehigh Valley Live. “What we didn’t anticipate was, when stores started opening over Memorial Day weekend, Americans would start buying fireworks in significant quantities early and continuing that pattern as we’re moving towards the Fourth of July.”

Over and over again, owners say they’re shocked by the increase in sales.

“This is the biggest opening date we have had here for sure,” Gene McClung, owner of Big Mac’s Fireworks in Missouri, told WDAF “They are really coming in after this stuff.”

But the pandemic is not out of mind. Some owners and workers say they’re changing the shopping experience due to the coronavirus pandemic to help keep shoppers and employees safe.

Megan Dykeman, who manages a firework tent in Missouri, said her team has changed the entrances and exits to try to encourage a one-way flow of foot traffic, according to WDAF. She added that the team is wiping down tables once an hour, making hand sanitizer available and planning to put social distancing decals on the floor.

In Wisconsin, KG Fireworks saleswoman Kaia Orme says she thinks canceled displays are causing families to make their first trips to fireworks stores, KQDS reported.

Customer Weston Williams agreed.

“They have to get more involved if they want to experience something like that and continue the tradition this year in a different way,” Williams told the outlet.

The sudden influx of new patrons means fireworks retailers are having to take extra precautions to make sure customers learn how to use fireworks correctly.

Joe Wampler, owner of Best Price Fireworks in Indiana, says he’s done just that, according to the Kokomo Perspective.

He discourages shoppers from shooting any fireworks — including Roman Candles which he only keeps in limited stock — out of their hands and cautions them away from metal sparklers, suggesting wooden sparklers instead, according to the newspaper.

“We just hope that people use good judgment and common sense, and injury numbers stay down because we’ve had people come in who haven’t bought fireworks in 30 years,” he told the Perspective. “Fireworks have evolved so much in the last five years, let alone 30 years. Before, you were lighting something, and you kind of knew what it was going to do. Now you can light something, and it’ll knock your socks off.”

This story was originally published June 24, 2020 at 6:14 AM with the headline "Fireworks sales explode across US as coronavirus pandemic cancels displays, owners say."