Fireworks still a best seller

Many people are still buying fireworks during these economic hard times but this year they are doing it on a significantly reduced budget.

Customers at the FireOne Fireworks’ Boxing Day sale in Macoya came from all over the country to take advantage of the buy-one-get-one free deal.

One woman told Newsday a friend of hers from Tobago sent her money to buy fireworks at yesterday’s event because even though “things were tight” he did not want to disappoint his children. He specifically requested that she visit the store for the Boxing Day sale to maximise the amount of fireworks he would get.

Rossi Ramsaran from Princes Town said he usually attended the annual event, buying fireworks from FireOne exclusively, because of the deal. He said he was hosting a lime on old year’s day so fireworks was a must to entertain his children, family, friends and employees.

“This year was tough. I had to cut my fireworks budget to one third of the usual. I expect plenty people will cut down this year. Remember this is your money you lighting up to see exploding. People will be more conservative.”

However, there were some people, mostly those who intend to resell the fireworks, who increased their purchases.

Yesterday, Clara Parmashwar from Tacarigua spent about $20,000 in fireworks.

She said every year she applied for and received her licence to sell fireworks and her whole family got together to help. She said she had been doing so for the past five years and business improved every year. In fact, she said people made requests for specific firework products throughout the year and was confident this year’s sales would be better than the last.

FireOne managing director Andre Abraham yesterday said the Boxing Day sale was not just about selling products. He said although they had a large variety of fireworks, over 20,000 items, free snacks and drinks, music, entertainment, Santa Claus and other characters were also provided for the enjoyment of the patrons.

He said the environment was created to show gratitude to customers, staff, and TT as a whole. “It's to try to take your mind away from the negativity that we’ve been bombarded with and the stresses of live, and refocus our minds on the positive aspects of TT and why we love living here.”

He said the goal was not just about selling fireworks but getting people to come together at midnight on New Year’s Day and “touching the sky as one” despite religious, ethnic, and economic backgrounds.

Abraham said they also tried to encourage people to show a level of courtesy and respect to their community in their marketing campaign. He said they had been trying to encourage people to use fireworks from 6 pm on Old Year’s night to 2 am on New Year’s Day so the elderly and those with animals would know when to expect the noise and prepare for it.

In addition, he said the laws that governed the use of fireworks in TT were over a hundred years old so the company imposed on itself laws that governed the American market. For example, he said, “We choose to adopt an inspection process which involves the American Fireworks Safety Laboratory going into our factories and following the entire production process.”

They also used the National Fire Protection Association guidelines with respect to firecrackers. He said there were several categories of firecrackers and some, like scratch bombs, were illegal. “The NFPA guidelines has specific quantities of black powder that could be used in a fireworks item. That is the main part that ensures a safe industry. The labelling, how to use the product, it not being overpowered and is critical. Because when it is overpowered that is what creates the issue.”

Abraham also intended to suggest specific days and times for use of fireworks in private areas when Government decides to improve the fireworks legislation. “We are going to suggest it and hopefully when the government rewrites the legislation that governs the use of fireworks, they would make it the law. That now helps the police and fire service do their job much easier–if someone lights illegal fireworks or legal fireworks outside the specified time, police can take action on it.”