The huge tents appear every year in late June, popping up on busy roads, their large signs encouraging motorists to stop and look at the fireworks for sale.
But this year is different. As the Fourth of July nears, the tents are in place, but there are fewer customers, some vendors say.
And those who do make purchases are buying the lower-priced items, said Tom Carney, who has operated a fireworks tent on Route 11 in Danville for the past five years.
“People are saying they’re watching their money,” he said Sunday.
Carney also has noticed a drop in the number of cars coming off Interstate 80.
“We haven’t seen nearly as many out-of-staters as normal,” the Danville resident said.
John Mumper runs the TNT tent at Route 15 and St. Mary Street in Lewisburg, and said he wasn’t sure how the economy would affect sales. This is his seventh year at the stand.
“But by judging by sales so far,” the Lewisburg resident said, “I’d say people are staying home and doing their fireworks here.”
Mumper said he expected sales to increase considerably this week.
Mike Jacobs runs the TNT Fireworks tent in front of Wal-Mart in Shamokin Dam and said his business has been good.
“Judging by the few days we’ve been here, it’s getting better,” the Middleburg resident said.
Despite just opening on Thursday, the stand has been seeing about the same number of people as in other years, and Jacobs attributed that to a number of regulars who return every holiday season.
They’ve returned this year even though prices of fireworks have gone up, he said.
“Then again, so has most everything else,” he said. “You expect prices to go up.”
Even the more pessimistic vendors haven’t given up hope of selling their merchandise.
Carney and his two sons sat at their tent, reading books and continuing the family tradition of running the seasonal business.
“Some have a family farm,” Carney said. “We have a family fireworks tent.”
n Staff reporter Rick Dandes contributed to this article.
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Fireworks sales sputter, vendors say
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