DICKSON CITY — Chuck Karam anticipates steady sales inside Bulldog Fireworks as the Fourth of July falls on a Friday.
“People are going to be able to celebrate the entire weekend,” said Karam, owner of the shop on Business Route 6.
Although rainy weather kept many customers away in the spring, business picked up when the calendar turned to summer, Karam said.
“Now with the sunshine, people are starting to move around,” he said.
Karam added the volume of sales around Independence Day varies significantly depending on the day of the holiday.
“We’re going into a Friday, Saturday, Sunday, which is going to have good traffic,” he said.
Specifically, profits are typically about 20% higher when the holiday is on a Friday or Saturday as opposed to a Tuesday or Wednesday, Karam said.
On average, fireworks sales contribute over $2 billion annually to the U.S. economy, according to the American Pyrotechnics Association. Additionally, Americans set off 295.3 million pounds of fireworks last year — a nearly 20% increase over the 246.5 pounds ignited in 2023, per the association.
Bulldog Fireworks continually adds to its inventory, and Karam stressed the business was mostly spared from additional costs on goods imported from China this year, which allowed the store to keep prices flat.
“We were fortunate enough to receive our goods early and we were able to pretty much avoid the tariffs,” he said. “We were able to get probably 75% of our order prior to the tariffs being enforced. Can you imagine some people paid 145%? You can’t stay in business.”
While pyro drone light shows provide the bright displays without the booming noise, Karam doesn’t believe the silent spectacles will become the norm.
“Although they’re very cool, I don’t think they’ll ever take the place of fireworks,” he said. “Fireworks are an American tradition.”
Steve Houser, past president of the National Fireworks Association from 2019 to 2023, believes lighting elements serve as an enhancement, but they won’t gain momentum as stand-alone events.
“I’ve seen drones with fireworks in shows and that’s really cool … they blend well together,” Houser said. “And I’ve seen just drones and you don’t get that boom, that explosion, and that’s an instinctive type of response. If you watch a drone show for five minutes, you’ve seen anything they can possibly do. It gets boring quick. I don’t think drones can ever replace fireworks. It just doesn’t have the same effect.”
Technological advancements allow customers to get a sneak peak of products at Bulldog Fireworks before buying them, as about 90% of items have a QR code on the packaging that syncs with screens inside the stores.
“In the old days, you would look at a box and wonder what it does,” Karam said. “Today, you watch what it does prior to purchasing it.”
Changes related to the power of the products have also transformed the industry.
Karam, 58, recalls lighting off bottle rockets in his younger years, a far cry from some of the advanced fireworks currently available.
“We had little rockets when we were kids that went up and made a little spark,” he said. “If we had a little spark, we had a winner. You sent it up into the air and it was like you hit a home run. Now, they have rocket packs. Today, the stuff is so cool. Forty years later, the industry evolved and the technology evolved … like everything else. It’s a lot of fun as long as it’s done safely. We tell everybody to enjoy the product, but do it responsibly.”
Bryan Heal, owner of Springbrook Fireworks in Pittston Twp., sees most customers looking for 500-gram repeater cakes and mortar shells — a consistent theme on an annual basis.
“There are always new ones every year and the mortar shells get bigger and bigger with more effect,” Heal said. “They whistle now and they create rings. It’s not just the regular colors. … It’s more advanced.”
Heal expects about a 15% boost in sales with the Fourth of July.
“It was a tough May because of all the rain, but people are coming in,” he said.
Houser, a full-time professional in the industry for 20-plus years, transitioned to consumer fireworks in 2007 after running a display company for several years. He noticed sales remain elevated longer than usual for the Fourth of July this year.
“I’m a consumer fireworks importer, wholesaler and distributor across the country, and sales have been very strong in the consumer arena,” he said. “This is the time of year where a guy like me has pretty much winded down from our busy times because we have to distribute everything so our customers and retailers have their stock, but we’re still very busy. From the consumer side, it seems like everybody is doing really well. You have people with multiple days off and they’re allowed to shoot on those multiple days across the country, so that always spikes demand.”
Houser, who regularly travels to the major production hubs, has also been impressed by the major advancements in fireworks.
“It’s a huge leap,” he said. “I go to China four of five times a year for two to three weeks at a time, so I’m over there a lot with the factories. The effects they can produce, the color quality they have available now … there is so much more variety than there was 10 years ago. They have the chemists who live and breathe this stuff, and they make it safer and safer. It’s all made by hand pretty much, so it’s really amazing they’re as good at it as they really are.”
While the loudest booms command most of the attention, Houser noted an influx of novelty items for children — little trucks, tanks, cars and boats — are becoming more prevalent and popular.
“Kids love them because they’re fireworks now and a lot of them are made with plastic molds so after the firework part is over, they get left with a little toy they can play with in the sandbox,” he said. “It’s kind of like the gift that keeps on giving.”
Karam also recognized that fireworks appeal to customers of all ages and demographics.
“We have people who love fireworks from as young as 4 years old to as old as 80, and it’s all walks of life, from your blue-collar worker to executives, attorneys and politicians,” he said. “Fireworks are something everyone can enjoy.”
