If your July 4 plans include fireworks, what to know about the nationwide shortage
As the area sets out on a long weekend for Memorial Day, it’s a holiday weekend coming this summer that has some Fort Mill retailers concerned.
They’re bracing for a fireworks shortage.
“We’ve been affected just like everybody else, with COVID,” said Bruce Pyle at Red Rocket Fireworks. “It’s kind of been a perfect storm. It’s hit production and shipping. There’s going to be an industry-wide shortage, it looks like.”
The production end issues come after 2020, when the worldwide coronavirus pandemic meant more and more people bought up fireworks for home use. Most of the large area community fireworks gatherings for July 4 — Lake Wylie, Carowinds, Fort Mill — either were canceled last year or held without crowds. Retailers that sell to the public saw a rush as people celebrated at home.
Pyle expects artillery shells, reloadable fireworks and assortment packages to be among the more popular items impacted this year. His store doesn’t show signs of a shortage yet, but with the nature of firework sales it likely wouldn’t. Firework sales, well, explode each year for July 4.
“It always is,” Pyle said. “It’s the 10 days before the the Fourth of July, are our key days. From the second to the fourth, we’re crammed pack full.”
South Carolina has less restrictive laws on buying, selling and setting off fireworks compared to some neighboring states. Including North Carolina, which creates an advantage for large fireworks retailers in the corner of Fort Mill nearest I-77. Several large retailers and holiday pop-ups have been part of the Carowinds Boulevard landscape for decades.
“We see people from all different states come through these stores,” said Pyle, whose location opened 21 years ago.
This year Pyle expects the holiday rush to resemble Christmas, where people who wait until Christmas Eve to shop find fewer options on the shelves.
“If people buy early, they’re going to be fine,” he said. “If they wait until the last minute, they’re not going to have as much to choose from.”
Store manager Chantal Baker at Fireworks Supermarket, on Festival Drive, expects the same.
“That’s exactly what it is,” Baker said. “We are encouraging people to come in and buy early. That way they have decent selection to choose from.”
It isn’t just local retailers looking for a few early sales. A Google search of “firework shortage” brings up more than 4 million results, with pages of stories on retailers nationwide warning of the same concerns.
“There’s a nationwide shortage of fireworks this year, and it’s all because of production,” Baker said.
Shoppers may not notice the shortage just yet. Which is the point of retailers warning customers this far in advance.
“We’re pretty well stocked right now,” Baker said. “There’s a few items that we won’t be getting in.”
Yet Baker knows what to expect.
Fireworks Supermarket has a massive banner on its homepage with a countdown to July 4. July 3 and July 4 are by far the busiest days for fireworks retailers, to the point where many pop-up stands appear just ahead of the holiday. While the big retailers can have customers throughout the year, sales for July 4 can carry them all the way through to the next rush at New Year’s.
Customers come to Baker’s store from Florida, Virginia, Pennsylvania and New York along with steady traffic from the Carolinas. Baker expects some of the smaller but popular fireworks — bottle rockets, Roman candles — to be susceptible to shortages.
Many fireworks enthusiasts, store owners say, can be particular about which items they buy. Pyle said his store will have merchandise through July 4, but it might not be the same as in past years.
“It may not be exactly the kind of items that we’d like to have out,” he said.
Store owners want to get the word out now, and expect people who want to buy fireworks will pay attention. There’s been a conditioning to supply shortages since the pandemic began, from hand sanitizer and medical masks to chicken tenders and Chick-fil-A sauce.
“It’s not a desperate shortage,” Pyle said. “It’s not a toilet paper shortage. But it’s a shortage nonetheless.”
This story was originally published May 28, 2021 at 10:26 AM.
