Holiday sets off explosive business for Indiana fireworks shops

July 04--Many Americans take the day off on the Fourth of July, but not Miranda Panos: She's in the fireworks business.

She plans to work until midnight Friday at Uncle Sam Fireworks in Hammond. There's usually one last surge around 10 p.m., she said, when people run out of fireworks and come for more.

In the week before the nation's birthday, Panos worked 8 a.m. to midnight, subsisting on Aurelio's Pizza ordered via speed dial. As manager, she oversees 15 workers who help customers pick from a selection that ranges from a $6 box of bottle rockets to the $700, 6-foot-tall "Godfather" combo pack. Every other day, a distributor stopped by to replenish supplies.

"People say, 'You don't get to do fireworks?' No, this is my fireworks," Panos said, gesturing toward the shop full of customers and colorful bundles of explosives.

Uncle Sam is one of about a dozen fireworks shops packed along Indiana's border like a football team's offensive line. In the weeks before July 4, they compete for the business of hordes of Chicagoland residents driving across the state line to escape Illinois' ban on consumer fireworks.

The stakes are high. Greg Kaplan, owner of Krazy Kaplan's Fireworks, said about 75 percent of his sales come from Illinois.

And a huge portion of the stores' revenues come from sales leading up to July 4. Uncle Sam makes 85 percent of its sales from Memorial Day to July 4, Panos said, while Krazy Kaplan's takes in 93 to 95 percent in that time. During the Fourth of July season, Kaplan supplements his year-round staff of about 15 full-time workers with about 250 part-timers.

Indiana's fireworks stores got a boost in 2006 when the state loosened regulations, Panos said. Until then, customers could only shop at the stores if they showed an Indiana driver's license and signed a contract saying they wouldn't explode the devices in the state.

The looser laws have caused a proliferation of fireworks stores in recent years. The increasing popularity of fireworks also has helped. From 1998 to 2013, sales of consumer fireworks nationwide rose to $662 million from $284 million, according to the American Pyrotechnics Association.

Julie Heckman, the association's executive director, attributed the growth to several factors, including a rise in patriotism after the Sept. 11 attacks and the recession, which led families to put on backyard fireworks displays rather than go on expensive trips.

With more stores, there's more competition and slimmer profit margins, Kaplan said. At a maximum, he sells his products at two or three times the price he paid for them, and he has a lot of overhead from his buildings and staff, he said.

To catch Illinoisans' business, store owners say it's crucial to be as close to the border as possible. Uncle Sam sits in a former railroad station about 20 feet from the state line, but it's not as close as nearby Discount Fireworks, on State Line Road. Kaplan's main store is 3 miles from the border but visible from Interstate 94.

"It's location, location, location," said Kaplan, who started selling fireworks from his basement in 1985 and now has seven Krazy Kaplan's locations. "The closer to the state line, the better your business is going to be."

Kaplan spends 6 to 10 percent of his store's budget on advertising, including more than 250 billboards featuring a dynamite-holding, straitjacket-wearing mascot he drew himself 25 years ago.

Khaled Kiswani, who owns a small fireworks shop, American Independence Fireworks, in Hammond, said larger rivals have squeezed sales. When he opened 12 years ago, his fireworks sales were about four or five times what they are now, he said. He's coped by diversifying -- he also services computers and sells insurance and cigarettes. Fireworks are less than 10 percent of his sales.

"We do whatever it takes," Kiswani said.

Illinois bans nearly all consumer fireworks, except small "novelty items."

Meanwhile, 42 states allow all consumer fireworks permitted under federal law, including bottle rockets and Roman candles, according to the pyrotechnics association. Seven have loosened their laws since 2010, in large part to increase tax revenue, Heckman said.

"It's really difficult and challenging to enforce this, and a lot of states saw how their neighboring states were generating a lot of tax revenue," she said. "They were tired of seeing the money cross state lines."

Queen Sister, who is from Chicago and bought $100 worth of fireworks Wednesday at Uncle Sam, said she would set them off at a campground near Indianapolis.

"I think it's sad that during this celebration of independence we have to cross the state line to feel free," said Sister, who said she has shopped at Uncle Sam for about 20 years.

Daniel Paz said he planned to take the Roman candles he bought Wednesday at Krazy Kaplan's back to his Chicago neighborhood of Brighton Park. He said he plans to detonate them in an alley behind his house. To prevent fires, he'll spray the alley with a hose beforehand.

Still, accidents happen. The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission estimates that 8,700 injuries caused by fireworks were treated in emergency rooms in 2012, and the National Fire Protection Association estimates that 17,800 fires were caused by fireworks in 2011. During last year's Fourth of July, a Chicago woman lost part of her leg to stray illegal fireworks in West Lawn Park.

Though they come to northwest Indiana seeking fireworks, Illinois residents sometimes linger for a burger. Tom Markovich, who owns Schoop's Hamburgers in Whiting, said his sales go up 15 to 18 percent in the weeks before July 4, as customers from a nearby Krazy Kaplan's come into his store for a meal.

There are downsides, though: Last year, someone tried to set off fireworks in the parking lot behind the restaurant.

"It didn't burn my place down, but if people buy them, they shouldn't set them off in a residential area," he said.

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