Despite festivals, bleak season for firecracker sellers in Kozhikode

Kozhikode firecracker stores face slow business despite online sales surge, as customers opt for safer, quieter options.

It is celebration time for Kerala with Id-Ul-Fitr and Vishu falling within the same week. The occasion should have been doubly beneficial for firecracker stores from early April. However, it is not so due to a variety of reasons, business owners lament.

“Online sale of firecrackers has picked up momentum after COVID-19 and is still going strong. Our business is slow this year too. We just started getting customers now,” said Kamal K.P., owner of ‘Gamaya Fire Works’ at Puthiyangadi in Kozhikode. In the business for the past 20 years, Kamal said this season had been the slowest besides the two years hit by the pandemic.

Mushrooming of stores during the season is also a downer for those who engage in the business regularly. “If Id had come during the off-season, there would not have been this much competition,” said Gireesh.V of ‘Thilakkam Fire Works’ at Athanikkal in the city.

However, the general inflation in the market had not affected the firecracker industry, they said. “The price of crackers has not increased much. It is just that the public do not have enough money at their disposal to spend on firecrackers like in the previous years,” Mr. Gireesh said.

The season is, however, beneficial to college students in search of summer jobs. “I have hired 10 students at the store just for this season. They are really interested to work in fireworks stores for the perks,” Mr. Gireesh said jokingly.

Meanwhile, there has been a drastic change in the public’s choice of fireworks. “People are no longer interested in items that make a lot of noise. It is the spectacle they are looking for,” Mr. Kamal said. Thus the small fire fountains and its various varieties, and rockets that burst into myriad colours in the sky are in great demand. “People have also become quite conscious about safety these days as they choose items that are safer for kids,” he added. Chinese crackers, which are reportedly not from China as most people believe, that are colourful and less noisy are also in great demand.

“The advancement in technology is reflected in fireworks too. The drone that hovers ahead spitting fire is greatly in demand this season,” Mr. Gireesh added.