Fireworks sales begin in North Dakota for the Fourth of July

HORACE, N.D. — June 27 is the first day North Dakotans can buy fireworks and with the Fourth of July a week away, customers are already pouring in to the local stores that sell them.

Memory Fireworks in Horace started off their Fourth of July season with a bang as customers were already lining up on the first day they can sell to North Dakota residents.

Memory Fireworks’ Manager David Reuter said some big spenders were busting down the doors that morning. He said local resorts are already placing big orders to stock up for their Fourth of July shows.

“When they come in here they’re spending $3,000 to $4,000 because they want to be the best show on the lake. So they want to get the good stuff,” Reuter said.

But plenty of people looking to put on much smaller shows in their yard or at the cabin were coming in early on the first day, too. James Tandeski of Christine, North Dakota, said he stops by every year to buy fireworks.

“Just thinking of my daughter, she likes smoke bombs and I usually get a couple of variety packs so we can spend a couple hours lighting stuff off,” Tandeski said.

Kathy Sussex of Milbank, South Dakota, was stopping in on her trip from Grand Forks to South Dakota. It’s her first time visiting the store and she was taken aback by the selection.

“Very overwhelmed, I’m not usually buying it by myself. My son is usually the one that knows what he wants to buy and everything, so this is like, ‘Okay, I’m just going to buy the little stuff for the kids,’” Sussex said.

Reuter said that wide selection has grown even bigger this year with a variety of new products.

“We have the swamp monster, which is a louder one. We have the Dakota Chaos, (that is) really colorful, (and) Wall of Honor, which is honoring veterans and first responders,” Reuter said.

Reuter also said the rain the area received over weekend is helping drive sales.

“One of the comments I’ve heard is because so many areas are getting rain now, they’re like, ‘Yeah, we want to get fireworks. We were debating, but now that we got the rain we’re coming in to buy fireworks and we’re going to have a great Fourth of July,’” Reuter said.

If you’re considering buying fireworks this holiday season, Reuter recommends to come out to the store earlier in the week rather than later, as things start to get more congested closer to the Fourth of July.