Brandon Fireworks celebrates 10 years, new permanent location

Some of TJ Cameron’s earliest memories are walking around at his dad’s fireworks store in Brookings, trying to help customers fill up their carts.

Years later, Cameron is now celebrating the 10th anniversary of his own business, Brandon Fireworks, that he owns and operates with his wife, Katelyn. 

For a decade in business, Cameron is celebrating in a big way—by opening a brand new location along East Arrowhead Parkway. The new location will be under the banner of Pyroholic, the fireworks company owned by Cameron and his cousin. The two are continuing a family tradition of selling fireworks started by their grandfather.

“My grandpa was one of the first people to import fireworks into the state of South Dakota,” Cameron said. “He had tents and things all over, and then he opened up a couple of warehouse stores. Then my dad owned one, my uncle owned one, my cousin owned one and then my cousin bought my dad’s. So, basically, he’s kind of consolidated them. He owns almost all of our large warehouses now, and he helped my wife and I get started 10 years ago—borrowing us a little product to sell. Then, we grew from there.”

Pyroholic also has locations in Yankton, Vermillion, Lake Poinsett, Lake Madison and, of course, Brandon. 

The Brandon location will remain, even with the new location. 

“I plan to stay in Brandon, just exactly where we’re located across from the golf course,” Cameron said.

Cameron says that if he finds the right land that he hopes to someday build a fireworks location in Brandon, as Brandon Fireworks currently operates out of trailers. The “permanency” that comes with the new location is one of the aspects Cameron is most excited about.

“My wife and I have grown quite a nice business in Brandon, but it’s always temporary,” he said. “So, there’s always that risk of having to move and where you could go. We transitioned in, like, our fourth year from the racetrack over to our current location. That was due to the sale of the racetrack.”

The new building along Arrowhead Parkway, which is painted red, white and blue, is just under 10,000 square feet, and its primary function will be fireworks despite the nine-day legal selling window in South Dakota.

The rest of the year, Cameron says, they have room for one rental unit and plan to build storage units behind the building to generate additional revenue. 

“[The building] will definitely allow us to offer more selection obviously here because it’s way bigger but also in Brandon—we can only store so much product as it’s coming in,” Cameron said. “We have 50-foot storage containers because we import directly.”

Cameron says he’s also excited for the new building as it will allow him to continue giving back to the community—something he says is incredibly important to Brandon Fireworks.

“I’m super committed to giving back to Brandon,” Cameron said. “I tried to count this morning how many organizations I donated to within the last 18 months. I think I came up with 15 different organizations—and I only counted significant [donations].”

“I think the [new] building will just allow us to do that more,” he continued. “Yes, this one is located near Sioux Falls, but it may be a combination of giving back to both communities, but we’ll continue to contribute in Brandon 100 percent.”

Cameron also said that since he can remember, he has never said no to supporting an organization in some way or another.

“I hope that I can continue that record and it may not always be the case that I can say yes 100 percent of the time but, to date, as far as I can remember, I’ve never said no to an organization to give them some kind of donation if they ask, especially if they’re local,” Cameron said.

With the firework season fast approaching, Cameron is reminding firework buyers to buy early, especially this year. 

The nation is currently in the midst of a firework shortage following a year of record-breaking fireworks sales. 

The issue stems from the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent issues with the global transportation system. The cost of shipping fireworks is also increasing rapidly.

Cameron says shipping has doubled in cost from past years, increasing from around $10,000 to $23,000. This is for shipping alone, Cameron says, and doesn’t include the price of the product itself.

Luckily, though, Brandon Fireworks and Pyroholic won’t be greatly affected by the shortage. Cameron says that because they import their own fireworks and don’t go through wholesalers that they carry a year-and-a-half to two years’ worth of inventory. 

“I would encourage people to shop early no matter where they go for the best selection,” he advised.

Brandon Fireworks by Pyroholic will be open from 9 a.m. until ‘late,’ June 27 to July 5, 

and Cameron encourages shoppers to look out for special 10-year anniversary coupons coming in the Brandon Valley Journal, Brandon Valley Trader and to Brandon mailboxes. 

Now, with the new location, Cameron’s excitement for firework season to begin is growing by the minute.

“We’re going to be here for decades, and my kids might work in this firework stand the same way I did in my dad’s fireworks stores when I was growing up.”