As soon as Extreme Fireworks gets a new shipment of fountains, sparklers or fireworks, the Mishawaka store sells out and can not restock.  

For example, one fiery fountain product in the shape of a sword — complete with a hilt that is held by hand — will be gone by the weekend, store manager Nicole Magaldi said recently. 

“Sparklers? Can’t get them,” she said. “The basic stuff is really hard to get.”  

Numerous issues in the shipping industry have caused a shortage of fireworks in the U.S., driving up prices for consumers and making local fireworks shops anxious about having enough product to last through the Fourth of July.  

Steven Graves, executive director of the Indiana Fireworks Users Association (IFUA), said all of the factors creating this perfect storm largely can be summed up as a problem with the shipping industry.  

The first contributing factor is fireworks factories in China have been reduced by a third, Graves said. Secondly, there is a backlog in regular orders because all of the factories had to temporarily close in 2020 at the beginning of the pandemic.

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The third issue starts with the ports, he said. The process of shipping fireworks, along with many other products, requires the many moving parts of loading ships in East Asia, shipping the product to the West Coast, unloading the ships and, finally, transporting the product across the country by either truck or train. 

However, in America, there is a shortage of workers in the ports, train and trucking yards, Graves said.

Additionally, the shipping industry has been slammed for months with imports to the United States from East Asia, largely driven by consumption of manufactured goods purchased in response to the pandemic, according to a June 15 report by NPR. Ships are having to wait weeks in ports such as Seattle, Tacoma, San Francisco and Los Angles before they can unload.  

Even though the pandemic began before fireworks season in 2020, the product for that summer had already been ordered immediately following the Fourth of July in 2019, when most fireworks stores place their orders, Graves said. Therefore, much of the product had already been delivered.

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However, after last year’s literal booming season, when Americans in the droves bought and put on their own fireworks shows, most shops sold out completely, and therefore didn’t have any leftover inventory to fall back on.  

The combined factors of reduced production and the slowed shipping industry has resulted in sticker shock, Graves said. He said Indiana can expect selling prices to go up 20% to 30%.  

Last year was one for the record books in the fireworks industry. Because many shows put on by groups, cities or other organizations were canceled due to the pandemic, individual consumer sales skyrocketed.  

In 2020, American consumers bought 385.8 million pounds of fireworks, a 136.9 million pound increase from 2019, according to the American Pyrotechnic Association. Display sales totaled 18.7 million pounds of fireworks in 2020, down 5.4 million pounds from 2019.  

“I anticipate firework retailers will run out of product,” Graves said. 

Phantom Fireworks store manager Liam Monroe said, “It’s (just) been difficult to get fireworks into the U.S. this year.”  

Up from previous years, he said the cost of shipping fireworks is almost the same as the selling cost.  

The public has already caught wind about the potential shortage, and, Monroe said, it’s driving up business at the South Bend store. However, the fireworks industry's single busiest day is July 3, making it difficult to predict what overall season sales will total to until after Saturday.

He recommended shopping early before Phantom Fireworks runs out of its best selection.  

Leslie Quinn, of South Haven, was shopping at Phantom Fireworks on Friday in preparation for a show she and her friends will put on for themselves on the holiday weekend. 

"So far, this is the second year in a row we do it for two or three nights," she said. 

Quinn's cart was full of repeaters for a big show, as well as smaller fountains, sparklers and roman candles. 

Coupons in hand, Nancy Estrada, of South Bend, was at Phantom Fireworks on Friday loading her cart with fireworks to be used at a festivity her family will throw this weekend. 

"There's a couple of people who said there is a shortage of bikes, canoes and even fireworks," she said as to why she was shopping early. 

Harold “Spider” Draves of Spiderworks Fireworks in Mishawaka said big companies such as Walmart, Target and Amazon can pay to have their shipping containers moved faster than that of other companies and industries, contributing to the backlog in fireworks orders.

Draves said the wholesale warehouse from which he stocks his store is almost empty. “There’s a lot of stuff that’s not around and just not available,” he said.  

Both Draves and Monroe said the big fireworks known as mortars or shells are going fast already, as people don’t want to be caught without them come the Fourth of July.  

Lucas Magaldi, product manager at Extreme Fireworks, attributed the shortage, in part, to the online buying craze of the pandemic around the country.  

“People have been shopping,” he said. “Especially (for products made) in East Asia and the ports can’t handle it.” 

Lucas said, “Luckily we’ve only had to raise our prices a dollar or two,” even though some shops have raised their prices to offset the cost of shipping by almost “one and a half fold.”

“We’ve had a lot of people coming in earlier,” he said. “Which is what I recommend for the best selection.”  

Last year, Extreme Fireworks completely sold out on July 4, and, Nicole Magaldi said, sales are already up from last year.

“I do think we are going to sell out,” she said.