Streetcorner Sales Boom for Fireworks

Galaxy Fireworks of Tampa has been doing business in Florida for close to three decades. Although the bricks-and-mortar store operates year-round, the July Fourth holiday is like Christmas to the merchant.

Demand for fireworks is so strong that the company sets up 95 tents across Florida to sell its products. These tents stay up for three weeks – from mid-June through July 4th -- and are located in high-traffic areas, on sreet corners and parking lots.

Galaxy staffs those tents with with opertors who work on a consignment basis. The merchant provides the product, tent, location and permit. The consignment operators work exclusively on commission, taking a percentage of the sales.

In the Tampa area and most of Florida, the company sells the full-range of fireworks -- firecrackers, bottle rockets and aerials. But in St. Petersburg, city law limits sales to sparkler items, which include fountains, ground spinners and novelty items.

Sharon Hunnewell-Johnson, president of Galaxy, talked with Patch about the business of selling fireworks. Hunnewell-Johnson expects business to boom through the July 4th weekend.

Q. Tell me about your year-round store.

A. We are a direct importer from China, a wholesaler and a fireworks retailer. We have been operating on Martin Luther King Boulevard in Tampa since 1996. Our store takes up a block and a half. We've been in business since 1984.

Q. What distinguishes your products from other fireworks sold in Tampa Bay and Florida?

A. We pride ourselves on the quality of our products. We go to China to inspect the products we buy. All the products we buy are tested for safety. We only get the best quality products to sell to the consumer.

Q. How has the fireworks retail business changed over the years?

A. There have been lots of changes, from first fighting for the right to be in business and sell our products to the retail customer.  For a while, it was illegal. Now you see fireworks for sale at every Mom and Pop store and on every street corner during the July 4th holiday. The products also have gotten safer. Larger companies like ours have fought for better quality and standards for making fireworks safer.

Q. How do you staff the temporary tents that are are set up for retail fireworks sales for the July 4th holiday?

A. The workers are independent opetators. We set them up in business. We have the locations. Our tents go up. We get the permits, put the products up and the consignment workers sell the product. They get a percentage of sales. Someone is on site all the time. People who sell fireworks for our company get a full orientation that goes over safety rules, and they get an operator's manual.

Q. Who are your workers?

A. We get a lot of return operators each year. For July Fourth, many are teachers, families, even nonprofits. Over New Year's, we see a lot of workers from the carnival circuit.