WYOMING, Mich. — We're a month away from the Fourth of July, which means you will see more fireworks shops popping up. Buyers might be in for a surprise this year.
A couple of larger shop owners say they have a lot of inventory from shipments coming late last year, but that doesn't necessarily mean they'll be cheaper.
Wendy Johnson and her husband own Firework Superstore in Wyoming. The two have been buying and selling fireworks for years.
"So it's so much fun to see everybody come back," Johnson said. "Some people spend $20, some people spend $800. It just depends on how much they have."
This year, Johnson says this is the fullest their shelves have been.
"So our pricing has gone up, some things significantly, some things not at all. It just depends on the items, so we try to keep [prices] as low as we can. So it's sometimes a cost average," Johnson said.
Johnson, along with the people at Pro-Fireworks, say container prices from China have nearly tripled from a couple years ago. Pro-Fireworks has 14 stores across Michigan.
Pro-Fireworks President James Stajos says a container cost $15,000 in 2020. Compare that to 2022 when a container costs $42,000. He says people going to seasonal shops might feel a little sticker shock.
"Shipping is slowing down again. So, where they were coming in pretty good in the winter. Now there, it's taking a long time to get here again, there's plenty of product in the country, we're not gonna nobody's going to run out of fireworks, but there will be select items that will be hard to come by," Johnson said.
She says smaller items like sparklers might become hard to find.
"I have more that I can refill with, and I'll have enough for this season for sure, but I think it's going to start to affect more next season for sure," she added.
The state allows people to light fireworks from June 29 to July 4 at 11:45 p.m., but it's best to check with your municipality for local firework regulations.
