2021 Post-4th Operations
July 2, 2021
Spirit of ‘76 Fireworks will be placing a temporary hiatus on customer ordering and shipping from July 5 – July 25 .
After the 4th of July, we will be pausing wholesale orders and shipments through July 25th. This will allow us some time to accumulate some products, double check inventory and get ready for a busy fall receiving and shipping schedule. On July 26th, we will be releasing our updated price and available stock lists and anticipate that our operations will be business as usual for the remainder of the year.
Our sales team will be available during this time, but if you want any fireworks delivered immediately after July 4th, they will need to leave our warehouse by noon, Sunday July 4th .
We will also be accepting orders for drop-ship containers for Brothers, Winda & Bright Star, Sky Bacon, and Supreme brands right after the 4th of July.
Industry Update
In our last update on May 14 we let you know that a new shipping general rate increase (GRI) of $2800 per container was put in place for all containers departing China for the West Coast after May 15th. At that time, we pledged to keep our prices the same through July 4th, and we did. Unfortunately, the shipping news coming from China isn’t getting better. We have learned of two additional GRIs: (1) $3000 for containers departing June 15th or later and (2) $1500 for containers departing July 1st or later. We have also heard rumors that we should expect another GRI later in July and there could be more this Fall. All-in-all the freight costs have increased by over $16,700 per container since last Fall . As a result of the rising freight fees it will be necessary for us to increase our prices after the 4th of July. Our new costs will be reflected in the price lists released on July 26th.
We believe that the industry should expect more of the same issues we faced this year to continue. Namely, product shortages, exchange rate fluctuations, and shipping issues. After a historic 2021 New Years and Independence Day, we understand that there will be substantial product shortages, putting more stress on the Chinese suppliers to make and ship more consumer fireworks to the US. With some factories having a full production schedule already and the shutdown of most factories until September 1st as a result of elongated heat ban and Chinese government celebrations, this will be especially challenging. In regard to the shipping issue, we have heard that it will take at least another year to turn around the global shipping mess and return things back to pre-COVID operations. Finally, the exchange rates continue to fluctuate and some reports have indicated that the dollar will continue to weaken against the Chinese RMB this winter. To help alleviate some of these issues, we have already placed our 2022 orders and we are working with our suppliers to expedite both production and shipping.
We encourage you to remain informed on the status of these issues as they may impact your purchasing decisions. The best way to insure you have product for your shelves this New Years and next July 4th is to purchase the product as it becomes available. We will keep our website up-to-date with things that we have ordered that are either in stock or that have shipped from China. You are of course welcome to reach out to your salesperson for more information. For our Drop Ship customers, the earlier you order the better fulfillment likelihood. We encourage all Drop Ship customers to submit their order by July 31st .
We appreciate your business and look forward to continuing to be your solution for your consumer fireworks needs.