MARION, SC – For many families, fireworks are a Fourth of July tradition, and fireworks outlets bank on that tradition. For some retailers in the Pee Dee, sales are already “booming” this year.
It’s the week before July fourth weekend, and that’s an important week for firework sales.
Sparky’s Fireworks in Marion says this week brings in the most revenue of the year, and that’s why they’ve spent months getting ready.
Cashier Barbie Coulter says they’ve added staff to help with all of the extra customers, and they hope to cash in this holiday weekend.
“We’re all hyped. We are ready, we’re ready for them,” said Coulter.
At Sparky’s, fireworks range from as low as one penny to as high $1,500, but customers say it’s not about the price. They say the holiday and the fireworks are all about tradition.
A tradition customers like Akeyla Madison say they can’t have in their home state.
“It’s always been a tradition and everything. Like in Tennessee, we’re not allowed to pop them unless you’re like out in the country, and I live in the city. So, to come to South Carolina and to actually be able to do it legally, it’s pretty amazing. It’s going to be fun, I’m excited,” said Madison.
Kristen Ray worked the week of July fourth last year.
She says every, out of state customers spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on fireworks because they can legally pop them in South Carolina.
“They make it part of their family stop every year. They make it like when they go to the beach they have to stop and on the way back they have to stop. Some people have been doing it since they were like five years old,” said Ray.
Those traditions mean big bucks for fireworks stores in both the Pee Dee and on the Grand Strand.
Sparky’s Fireworks says, because the fourth falls on a Saturday this year, it expects higher sales than in recent years.
