B.J. Alan gets national contract

A building expansion or relocation might be in the company's future.
By DON SHILLING
VINDICATOR BUSINESS EDITOR
YOUNGSTOWN -- B.J. Alan Co. has landed its first national supply contract and is stocking 2,500 Kmart and Rite Aid stores with novelty fireworks items.
Company officials decided after last July 4 that this was one part of the business that could be expanded.
"It's a significant new areas of business, and we've been challenged by it," said William Weimer, general counsel for the Youngstown-based fireworks distributor.
The company has hired a couple employees to manage the process of supplying the stores and has performed well despite having to work through differing state and local laws and build a national program, he said.
Regional retailers
In the past, it has supplied regional retailers, such as Youngstown-based Phar-Mor and Pittsburgh-based Giant Eagle.
Weimer said the effort will add about $7 million in new business this year.
Included are 1,400 Kmart stores, 1,100 Rite Aid stores and 100 other stores under a deal with consumer goods supplier Fleming Companies of Texas. B.J. Alan is supplying all Kmart and Rite Aid stores that are located in areas that allow them to sell fireworks novelties.
Weimer said Kmart has reported a double-digit percentage increase in sales of sparklers and other novelty items this year. The increase comes primarily because of the packaging offered by B.J. Alan, he said.
With its in-house design staff, the company tries to make its packaging brighter and more attractive than other brands.
Differing regulations have been part of the challenge for the fireworks company, Weimer said. Not only are state laws different, but some states allow local governments to place additional regulations on fireworks.
The company has had to develop four or five sales programs in some states based on differing regulations related to sparklers, smoke items, snaps and party poppers.
Weimer said the company will look to add other national retailers next year.
Expansion possible
Weimer said the additional business with national retailers is adding to space problems at its Youngstown plant. The company has been considering expanding or relocating the business to gain more room, but has put those discussions on hold until July.
B.J. Alan, which markets products under the Phantom Fireworks name, is one of the country's leading fireworks distributors. It operates 31 fireworks stores and 1,000 temporary stands around the country.
It imports fireworks but makes sparklers at a plant on Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard.
shilling@vindy.com