The far-reaching effects of the worldwide COVID pandemic seemed to have touched every aspect of life. This summer, our Fourth of July fireworks supply is no exception.
Rather than a direct effect of shutdowns or quarantines, this year’s fireworks shortage is the opposite: expanding economic activity has created a higher demand, which has resulted in a shipping backlog.
Since most fireworks are imported from China, they have to be shipped into the United States. For the past several months, shipping containers from China have lingered in American ports because the volume is so high that they cannot get moved at the normal speed.
Think about a traffic jam in a city; with too many cars on the road, traffic slows to a standstill. That’s the situation in many American ports, and some of these containers are filled with fireworks.
Troy Wisdom with Gladiator Pyrotechnics, who is engineering this year’s downtown Poplar Bluff fireworks display, said, “Everybody cannot get their containers from China.”
“We’ve seen a triple-price increase to bring containers into the U.S.,” Wisdom said. “With the supply shortage, prices have gone up.”
This year’s Fourth of July display will go on, but not without its challenges.
“We have been able to find a supply, but we did have to pay more,” Wisdom said.
“We had a good store of fireworks on hand, but we needed more for our displays,” he said. “When that happens, the price gets passed along to the customer.”
Downtown Poplar Bluff is coordinating this year’s event with primary sponsorship from Briggs and Stratton and Ozark Federal Credit Union.
Jeff Sloan, a member of the Boomland Fireworks family, with locations in Poplar Bluff, Charleston, and Benton, concurs that shipping woes have caused most of the supply problems.
“The lack of shipping containers in China means that everything is backlogged,” Sloan said.
Boomland has been in business for 64 years. Sloan said their experience has helped them “do a fantastic job of getting everything we can from overseas.”
“Some U.S. warehouses still had a supply to start with,” he said. “We are still trying to get the maximum inventory for our customers.”
Sloan said all their stores are currently fully stocked, and although prices have gone up due to shipping costs, the size of their business helps keep the problems minimized.
“We are not wanting to raise our prices,” Sloan said. “We bend over backwards to keep our customers happy.”
Diminished supply and higher prices have also affected the familiar fireworks tents from local retailers dotting local parking lots during this time of year.
Kent and Robin Kassinger, who have operated fireworks tents for many years, decided to only sell in Poplar Bluff this year.
They usually have a second location near Lake Wappapello, but the supply shortage caused them to not open that facility this year.
“Shipping is the main issue,” Kent said. “Fireworks are still sitting in containers at U.S. ports.”
He said that only 50% of the normal supply has reached wholesalers this year, resulting in a 30-35% price increase. The laws of economics mean that customers’ prices have increased as well.
However, this hasn’t caused a decrease in business.
“Business is good,” Robin said. “Our customer presence is strong.”
“We’re expecting a normal sales year,” Kent said.
For those in the Poplar Bluff area, the downtown Fourth of July parade will take place at 9 a.m. Saturday, July 3, so as not to interfere with Sunday morning church services.
The downtown fireworks display begins after dusk on Sunday, July 4.