Firework sales are rocketing according to a top North Wales retailer.
Wales’s biggest container storage company Lock Stock also sells fireworks from four of its 16 sites across North Wales and the border counties and it’s not just in the weeks before Bonfire Night that sales are high.
Lock Stock are finding that while demand peaks in October, fireworks aren’t just for November 5 and there is a steady stream of customers buying throughout the year for birthdays and anniversaries while New Year’s Eve celebrations are also often going with a bang these days.
Nick Powell, of Lock Stock, the Denbigh-based company that sells fireworks from its sites at Llandudno Junction, Rhyl, Denbigh and Chester, said: “Our firework sales are up 20 per cent on the same time last year but where they used to be confined to October, people are coming to us for fireworks throughout the year now.
“We sell from Llandudno Junction and Chester throughout the year and from Rhyl and Denbigh in the autumn but we do take orders throughout the year and we are introducing an online and delivery service in time for this Bonfire Night.
“Firework safety is very important to us so we do work closely with the relevant licencing and fire authorities because of their necessary volatile nature – after all you want something that does go with a bang rather than a damp squib.
“Bonfire Night on November 5 is still the busiest time by far but increasingly ahead of New Year we are seeing strong demand and I think that was down to the Millennium celebrations.
“But the massive fireworks displays which have been held at the Olympic Games and other major events are also inspiring people to light up the night sky when they’ve got something to celebrate.”
Lock Stock, which employs 16 staff, was launched in 1998 by brothers Nick and Shon Powell as an off-shoot of the family’s well-known Craig Bragdy ceramic design and installation company.
They bought shipping containers to store material from the ceramic business and after receiving enquiries from other businesses about renting storage space they decided to open their first self-storage park in Denbigh.
Since then the operation has grown so that they are now expanding several of their sites and target an increase in their number of containers from 2,200 to 3,000 by the end of the year.
They also operate a van hire business, Take Stock, from their three main hubs at Llandudno, Chester and Rhyl where they also sell fireworks.
Nick Powell said: “We have sponsored Denbigh Fireworks at Denbigh Castle for many years and we also provided the fireworks for the Queens 90th birthday celebrations in St Asaph this summer which was a fantastic display fit for the Queen. The Mayor himself commented that the quality of the display was a fitting finale to a wonderful day.
“That has involved us in buying fireworks and it encouraged us to sell them and it’s been very successful so that we have ordered three times as many fireworks as we did last year and sales are going very well.”
“We do have 16 sites and we are trying to expand that number but in the meantime we would like to maximise activity at each site and we would hope that in ten years’ time there will be multiple activities at each of our sites.”
Lock Stock’s most popular firework is Fireworks Crazy which sells for £79.99 and which can be seen in action at http://lockstock.biz/fireworks/product.php?slug=fireworks-crazy
For more information about Lock Stock fireworks and how to buy them go to http://lockstock.biz/fireworks/ and for more on the company to http://www.lockstock.biz/
