Fireworks sales stay strong on local level

Alexander Cain
The Union-Recorder

July 01, 2009 02:01 pm

— Fireworks sales are in full swing as businesses and national companies compete in a struggling economy to provide the best and most colorful Fourth of July activities for families and individuals in the Central Georgia area.
Two fireworks companies — the Youngstown, Ohio-based Phantom Fireworks and the Florence, Ala.-based TNT Fireworks — had products on sale in Milledgeville and Baldwin County as of press time Tuesday evening.
Both companies have used Milledgeville as a selling stop in previous years and both provide similar products and cooperate closely with the Georgia restrictions, which regulate the amount and type of fireworks that may be sold to the public.
“We’ve been doing pretty good. We’re almost sold out of certain things. The jumping jacks and California candles have been popular, as have the Dragon Quests and New Yorkers,” Javious Canty, who is helping to oversee the Phantom Fireworks tent near Ruby Tuesday restaurant and the Milledgeville Mall, said as he gestured to the varieties of fireworks available.
Sparklers and similar non-explosive fireworks are legal in Georgia, which prohibits the sale and use of most types of fireworks, including firecrackers, skyrockets and cherry bombs.
The fireworks available at the TNT Fireworks tent at the rear of the Wal-Mart parking lot and at the Phantom Fireworks tent at Milledgeville Mall are all sold within the guidelines set down by the state — and though there are more snaps and pops than booms and bangs, business has still been good, according to Ryan Wells with the TNT Fireworks tent.
“One of our biggest sellers is the Big Timer. I always sell them out. This year they come with a free Grand Finale,” Wells said.
“We also do well on sales with the Cascading Waterfall. Feel the weight on this one,” Wells said, holding out a sample of the firework, with its colorful packaging and size equal to that of a small child’s doll house. “This is the maximum amount of powder that the state will allow.”
While both TNT and Phantom are selling in Milledgeville — Phantom-brand fireworks were found at Kmart while Kroger and Wal-Mart were selling TNT — the two don’t really feel any competition toward each other, at least if you talk with Wells, whose church will receive a portion of sales at the closure of the tent after this weekend.
“TNT gives their tents to local organizations who need to raise money for good causes. They give us a percentage of what we sell,” Wells explained. “We’re with Williams Chapel Baptist Church out of Dublin and we’re raising money for a church mission trip. They provide everything and all we do is show up and work the tent.”
Price-wise, both companies tend to try to keep the costs to consumers in a low enough or wide enough range where fireworks can be purchased for as little as $5 or, for the big budget spenders, as high as $200.
“We opened last Wednesday and we’ll be open through the Fourth of July,” Canty said as he waited for customers at the Phantom fireworks tent. “Sales are really a mixture of things. Some people are looking for sparklers while others are looking for Fourth of July fountains type. It’s been a good mix, and we have things ranging from $1.99 to as much as $199.99. The high prices sell, and they’ve been very popular. It seems more people come after the sun has come down.”
At Wal-Mart, a TNT “Jumbo Finale Pack” was marked at $27.97 while a “Freedom Blast” pack had a $19.97 price sticker.
Up the street at Kmart, “Phantom’s Fury” prices were listed at $24.99 while a “Phantom Unleashed” was listed at $39.99 and packages of “Wolf Pack Snaps,” the popular tissue-wrapped, fingernail-sized exploding packages, were listed at $2.49.
“With the cutbacks and the economy, people still have money for fun. All of our fireworks are legal, and we have many buy one, get one free items,” Wells said.
Leeann Riggins visited the TNT Fireworks tent Tuesday afternoon searching for smaller, safer items for the younger members of the community.
“I’m the youth director at Black Springs Baptist Church and wanted to do something for the kids, give them something fun to do,” Riggins said.
Riggins left with mostly sparklers, but said she would “probably” return later in the week.
“Our fireworks are reasonably priced, and they’re probably some of the lowest you can get. We have containers and buy one, get one free items — some very good deals,” Canty said. “I guess people are just looking for something to do on the Fourth of July after their barbecues. We’ll have more coming in, and we’ll have plenty available if people want to stop by and purchase high-quality, legal materials for their Fourth.”
Despite the fact that both tents are now open to the public (and both are keeping evening hours as late as 10 p.m.), both Canty and Wells admit that the big sale days will come later this week.
“Traffic has been pretty steady for our first day, but the majority of our money is made on July 3 and July 4,” Wells said.

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