Booming business, fireworks retailers staying busy leading up to last minutes of 2024

Many employees working at North Texas fireworks stands will work longer hours on New Year's Eve.

“We’ll be open to midnight,” Brock Rodgers said.

Rodgers helps run his family business, Eagle Fireworks, in Ellis County. The family also operates a location in Waxahachie.

“There are always those last-minute shooters that come. They just want one final box or one set of artillery shells to run back home and shoot with their family. Or they go shoot something and they really liked it. So, they want to come back and grab more.”

According to Rodgers, their sales this year have surpassed numbers from 2023. He said sales could soar even higher due to the recent rain across the area.

“It's been really great this year for New Year's. The weather's been awesome,” Rodgers said. “We had a couple of … those big storms that came through. But it just kind of, you know, pulled it off and kept the grass wet so, you know, more safe to shoot. And we've been seeing, you know, customers pretty steady.”

On Tuesday morning, several parents swung by Eagle Fireworks with their young children.

“I’m with my son Beau. This is his first actual fire stand experience, so I figured we'd check it out and see what they have,” Kelsey Dyer said. “The ground is still damp. There is a little bit of wind. But otherwise, I feel like it’s pretty safe for the celebration.”

Dyer said they usually choose to stay home and watch TV. However, they’ll be visiting friends who live outside of city limits.

“We're going to be somewhere where it's a bit more spacious. We bought some basic sparklers and novelty ones just for the kids,” Dyer said.

Zach Duran also chose basic sparklers for his two young children.

“I got little small things that’s not too loud for them,” Duran said. “I’ll let them get used to something like that. And maybe next year we can go bigger.”

Duran, who lives near the fireworks stand, said he makes sure his children keep their distance while he lights other fireworks in their backyard.

“They let me do everything and they just watch,” Duran said.

And while some items have already sold out, Rodgers said they offer many varieties to make sure every customer is satisfied.

“We like to rotate our inventory and just about every item, you know, fountains, finales, we try to keep 20 or more different choices for our customers and stock,” Rodgers said.

Police have issued fireworks warnings as most cities in North Texas ban the use of fireworks within city limits.

For fireworks complaints, police ask that people call the non-emergency number or use online reporting systems.