At Midlands fireworks stands, business gets brisk

Clinton Davis surveyed his stack of fireworks and declared himself ready for the family’s annual July 4 celebration.

As they do each year, the Columbia resident and his wife, Renee, will be heading to her brother, John Leech’s, home for Saturday’s Independence Day festivities. So as part of the couple’s Friday rounds, a stop was in order at the TNT fireworks stand in the Walmart parking lot on Forest Drive.

“Since he provides a lot of the food, we provide the fireworks,” Davis said as he collected his Big Timer pack that included an assortment of 65 fireworks. “I’m set up.”

He’d better be. The family is expecting 35 to 40 guests, with roughly 15 children, and the fireworks promise to be a main attraction of the evening.

“We’ll wait until it’s good and dark,” said Davis, who works for the Alston Wilkes Society.

While the July 4th fireworks are a tradition for many families, Davis said this year’s light displays also could help to restore a sense or normalcy to many families in the wake of recent tragedies across the state.

“With all the bad news that has been going on, we figured it was a good time to celebrate our blessings and be grateful,” he said.

Eddie Gann, pastor of the Pentecostals of Columbia, whose youth group is operating the Forest Drive stand, is hoping the same.

“It’s time to be happy and enjoy our heritage,” Gann said.

The Forest Acres stand was just one of many attracting lines Friday as Midlands residents began to load up on fireworks for their weekend celebrations. While many stands have been open for several days, several store owners said the bulk of sales won’t take place until Saturday.

“It’s mostly last minute,” said David Giesen, who was working at SAM Fireworks on U.S. 1 in West Columbia.

Giesen said that many customers will browse the stand early before making their final selections.

“We try to find out exactly what their needs are and then we lead them to the right one,” he said. “If you like people, it’s is a lot of fun (working at the stand).”

Firework stand operators are bracing for a rush of customers through the day Saturday and into the early morning hours.

Gann said in past years, their stand has remained open until 1 or 2 a.m.

“We’ll be here until they stop coming,” he said.

This story was originally published July 3, 2015 at 5:10 PM.