The Boyk Brief
Go into chambers with attorneys Chuck Boyk, Mike Bruno, Zac Shaffer, and the attorneys of Charles Boyk Law Offices on The Boyk Brief, as we talk with interesting personalities from the legal world, celebrities, experts, business & community leaders, and other engaging people about a variety of topics.
The Boyk Brief
Boyk Brief Episode 32: Jacy and Lee Strahan from Uncle Louie's Fireworks
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Chuck Boyk talks to sisters Jacy and Lee Strahan from Uncle Louie's Fireworks about the family business, their recent technology investment, and the latest offerings for safe summer celebrations with fireworks.
A video version of this episode of The Boyk Brief podcast is available on YouTube https://youtu.be/_nf5bngSxgs
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Today we have with us Lee and Jackie Strahan. They're sisters and their owner operators of Uncle Louie's Fireworks, which is the top-rated fireworks store in Northwest Ohio, Southern Michigan. Nice to be with you today, Jackie and Lee.
SPEAKER_00Hi. Hi, Chuck. Thanks for having us.
SPEAKER_02Okay. So talk a little bit about your location, where you are in relation to the Ohio-Michigan line.
SPEAKER_00We are just not even one mile north of the Michigan-Ohio line on US 223. You get off on Stearns Road and head east. Beautiful building, paved driveway, plenty of ample, well-lit parking.
SPEAKER_02And I think everybody that goes up 23 sees the big signs with Uncle Louie's picture on it.
SPEAKER_00Oh, yes. Stop in and see us with the giant firecracker.
SPEAKER_02So let's talk about the history of the business, when it started, and uh the fact that it's family-owned and how you guys got involved.
SPEAKER_01So we started in 2007, and obviously Louie is our father. So once we took on the business, we tried to mix it up a bit to become what we hoped it could be, which is a family-friendly, fun environment, really well lit. And that's something in the fireworks industry you would notice as you go around to some places. It's just kind of an older style. So we've been here every year. We try to grow our business, add additional product, always stay on trend with what is new, if it's new colors, new effects. So Lee and I started out as cashiers and ended up starting doing the ordering, and it's built into where her and I run the whole business at this point. It's been an adventure to say the least.
SPEAKER_00Oh, of course. Uh he does not come in as often as he used to in the preseason, but he will always be here over the week of the fourth, and he spends just as much time in here as uh we do visiting with customers. But sometimes in the preseason you'll catch a glimpse of him in the afternoons.
SPEAKER_02So we're basically in, I'm assuming, your big season, 4th of July, I'm assuming, is the biggest part of your year.
SPEAKER_00Definitely, 4th of July is our busiest. Um, usually Memorial Day is kind of the start of the kickoff for fireworks season. A lot of people get them for their graduation parties. A lot of people are adding fireworks for their wedding receptions, birthday parties. Fireworks have become um, I think, just a great addition to so many people's summer activities.
SPEAKER_02A lot of us older people just remember, you know, firecrackers and sparklers and stuff like that. My understanding is you have over 1,200 individual products and 10 brands.
SPEAKER_01We do. So when we started, we took this business so seriously. Lee and I have watched thousands of hours of videos going to different wholesalers' demonstrations to actually see the product live. We cannot believe what all they can do with fireworks nowadays. Novelties, as I remember, little tanks, you know, they could barely go. We now have these things like Normandy Landing, it shoots things out, it has tanks come actually out of it. So even novelties, fun things for the kids. We have an entire aisle top to bottom for kids-day stuff, including sparklers. Now they color change, they spin around. You can do five at a time. And as you break that down into the big 500 gram stuff, it's amazing what they can actually do. And if you see on our top shelf back there, there's these custom wrecks that now not only can you do an artillery shell, but you can point the direction it goes to, have multiple effects. It's never-ending on the way they can change and manipulate these fireworks for absolutely incredible effect for consumers.
SPEAKER_02So I wanted to talk about some of your competitive advantages. Uh, the first competitive advantage, customer safety. Could you explain this Ignite firing system and um how would that um provide value and safety to the average customer?
SPEAKER_01So Lee and I came across the Ignite system at the NFA convention this year. And what we have noticed in the past that firing systems either were for people that set up shows for others, not as much just in your backyard. This company is changing that. So you can actually buy pre-packaged shows for a certain length of time. They're individually labeled, you plug them into the system and you can actually fire it from your cell phone. So you can stay upwards of 150 yards away and still have cell phone or Bluetooth connection to your firing system. This then takes it to the whole next level. You can keep yourself at a safe distance. If something were to happen, as we know can happen in fireworks, you can actually stop the show so it would stop firing and at least reduce your chance of any kind of potential injury. The other thing you can do is people are spending additional money on their shows that they want to take them to the next level. You can add music to your show. You can then have all of the people at your party download the code and they can pyrocast the music right from their cell phone. So everybody's on the same page. It's another company that's really taken the consumer into their thought process when designing it, not just about the fireworks. So there's libraries you can punch in a cake that we would have, Neon Thunder, and it pops right up, it tells you the duration, the shot count, and all that just adds to what you actually know is happening in your show.
SPEAKER_02So if a customer comes to your store, why don't you talk about uh how knowledgeable your staff is and what the advantage of instead of just coming in and buying something that you actually talk to your staff?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, so Jackie and I coming up kind of through the ranks, we did not know a bunch about fireworks when we first started. It's kind of like, oh, a bottle rock and a Roman candle. What's the difference? So we took that to heart to our customers that a lot of people only do fireworks on 4th of July. They don't watch all of these videos and spend all the all of this time researching. So depend upon where you live, if you're Michigan or Ohio in a subdivision versus way out in the country where you have plenty of space, we want to make sure customers get exactly what they want and what fits what their plan is for fireworks. So if somebody comes in and wants a fountain because they need ground effects, that they live in a subdivision and they don't want anything aerial, we're not going to sell them a 500-gram cake or an artillery shelf. We have an entire section of fountains. And then we have a really nice video system where you can scan the UPC code and actually show the customers exactly what they will be getting to make sure that fits what they want. And then building a show for people when they come in, um, they kind of know what their budget is, what they want to spend, and what they're trying to achieve with their display. All of our salesmen recognize that, and it is crucial to Jackie and I that everybody sells customers exactly what they are looking for and helping them achieve what they want when they walk into the store.
SPEAKER_02And could you tell the uh audience about your no dud guarantee?
SPEAKER_01Each individual brand has different guarantees. So what we do as a store is anything purchased in the store, if it was an actual failure of the firework, if it shot out the side or if it didn't light, you can actually safely bring that back into the store with your receipt and we will give you your money back. The reason we have rarely ever had this happen is because of the fact that we are a climate-controlled environment. We don't let our fireworks sit out in moisture. If we happen to accept a delivery where there is rain in the forecast, we have the store cleared out so that it can immediately come in. But so our store stays at a consistent temperature even through the winter, so that we can accept deliveries as early as possible for cost savings to pass on to the customer and the guarantee that their firework is going to go off.
SPEAKER_02A lot of times I've seen firework stores that kind of look like an old carryout. Why don't you describe how big your building is and the advantages of that building?
SPEAKER_00We have a beautiful metal building, concrete floors, um air conditioning, stainless steel, uh checkout counters, windows, glass doors to keep it well lit. We use all plastic palleting so we don't have any damaged wooden pallets that are around. We use all loisure shelving, so that has customer safety and high visibility to put products where it is easy for customers to shop and peruse the products that we do have and scan them and use the Pyro Player system to watch the fireworks.
SPEAKER_01We are one of the largest fireworks stores in Michigan, especially in retail space.
SPEAKER_02My understanding is every year you have more and more customers, but aren't a lot of your customers people that you've dealt with for five or 10 or 15 years?
SPEAKER_00Absolutely. Um, that is one of our favorite, um, favorite things about being here now seven years is seeing the same customers year after year and building relationships and friendships with them. Um, and it is really funny that a lot of the young kids, once they become 16, they come in to work for us um as stalkers in the beginning and then cashiers and eventually salesmen. So that helps with our knowledgeable staff that everybody loves fireworks that works here and they have a passion for them.
SPEAKER_02So when you're talking about uh the new state-of-the-art stuff that you have, um I I think that's one of the issues that people are concerned about is like like how do I plan a show? So I think that's a really major thing that clients are probably shocked about.
SPEAKER_01The fact that you can help them plan their own personal show, and to fit into their budget, like that is something I think people get a little afraid to ask, but to us it's one of the most important things because it doesn't matter if you're coming in to spend $50 or if you're coming in to spend $1,500. There's a lot of fun that can be had as long as we know where you want to be. If you're in a lower end budget, you're not gonna spend as much time in the section that we're sitting in. These are big 500 gram cakes. You can utilize one for your finale, but having the ability to scan the product, it pops up on one of our seven TDs. You actually get to see it and you watch the enthusiasm grow there. They're like, that all comes from that one particular cake. And then year to year, that's why we have this loyalty, is because they may have started out $200 and now they spend a thousand because every year they got what they wanted and they want it to improve and get better. That's why we made the investment in those Pyro scanners. The companies themselves have figured out people want to know what's inside that box. The description, the label is one thing, but they've put QR codes you can actually scan them with your cell phone and build and build a YouTube list, and then you can actually build your own show that way. We're always here for assistance, and we've actually hired several what would be customers as they've retired, they actually come back in. That's where she has said our staff is so knowledgeable because they are shooters, so they can pass that enthusiasm on to customers to also help them.
SPEAKER_02You're so close to the Ohio line. I'm assuming that you service um a large amount of people, both from Ohio and Michigan. Um, my understanding is going into effect on July 1st in Ohio, that it's you can now discharge consumer grade uh fireworks in Ohio on your own personal property uh for the 4th of July. Um and I'm assuming that should substantially increase your Ohio business.
SPEAKER_01Absolutely. That's been a big thing. There's always rules, laws changing yearly, something we have to keep up with as well. That is probably why businesses on the border have been here for 30, 40 years, and now it's equaling out a bit as Ohio's starting to lift that. There could be a permit. We have heard through the grapevine that there could be that's how they're going to kind of regulate Ohio a bit, is with some kind of permit that you buy, then you're able to discharge on your own property. Whereas currently you have to buy it, but you're signing a waiver that says you'll have it out of the state within 72 hours. Unless it's a fountain novelty kids safe assortment, which you are you've always been allowed to do.
SPEAKER_02Anything else you want to talk about uh your potential or existing customers?
SPEAKER_00Something that Jackie and I feel very strongly about is um giving thanks to our service members, veterans, um, policemen, and firefighters for all of the risk that they take for us. Um so when they come in and purchase uh fireworks, it's $150. They get the option of getting a free 500 gram cake that's called the Given Back Cake. It's a nine-shot red, white, and blue aerial repeater, or a 25-gun salute, which is a 25-shot, 200-gram cake. Um, it's an absolutely beautiful display, or a free Uncle Louie's t-shirt with their purchase to show our appreciation for everything they do for our country.
SPEAKER_02Thank you very much, and I'm sure um you guys will do another great job of helping everybody in northwestern Ohio and southern Michigan um celebrate um the 4th of July and uh to celebrate the summer. Thank you.
SPEAKER_01Thanks for having us, Chuck.