B.J. Alan replaces store lost in fire

By DON SHILLING
VINDICATOR BUSINESS EDITOR
NORTH LIMA -- B.J. Alan Fireworks Co. is ready for the summer sales season with a new store in Beaver Township.
The Phantom Fireworks store opened a week ago at 9400 Market St., just south of Western Reserve Road. It replaces one on state Route 46 that was destroyed by fire in September.
The new $2 million store features these improvements:
UThe size of the showroom increased from 2,800 square feet to 5,000 square feet.
UThe new store has a brick and glass facade. The old store was a wooden pole barn.
UInventory is in a 10,000-square-foot attached storeroom instead of truck trailers.
UThe new store has safety features, such as a sprinkler and smoke-exhaust systems, that the old one didn't.
UMore than 200 cars can be parked on pavement instead of 20.
Despite insurance, the company lost money on the fire, said William Weimer, general counsel for Youngstown-based B.J. Alan. The improvements at the new store, however, will help operations and should increase sales, he said.
"The shopping experience will be a night-and-day difference from the other building in Beaver Township," he said.
Weimer said company officials had been considering a new Beaver Township store, but the fire forced them to act.
Blaze
The state fire marshal's office said the cause of the blaze could not be determined because of extensive damage. It said there was no indication the fire was intentionally set and it couldn't rule out an electrical cause.
B.J. Alan officials wanted the new store open a month earlier but were delayed in a battle with township officials, who tried to block the store. The township zoning code prohibited sales of fireworks, but the company had that overturned in court because state law allows such sales.
State law limited B.J. Alan to opening the replacement store in Beaver Township.
Customers were familiar with the old location because the company had operated there for 30 years, but the new site has benefits, said Ken Tirpack, store manager. It's closer to heavily populated Boardman and is near an Ohio Turnpike exit, with about 40 percent of sales coming from out-of-state residents.
"We have billboards all over the turnpike," Tirpack said.
Ohio law prohibits the use of fireworks, except novelty items such as sparklers, but residents can buy them if they sign a form saying they will be used out of state.
The store will employ 40 to 50 before July 4 and 10 the rest of the year.
The site
Weimer said the Market Street site worked well for B.J. Alan even though only about seven acres in the middle of the 35-acre parcel were suitable for construction. The rest is wetlands.
The buildable space, however, was enough for the store and parking lot, and the remaining land was needed to meet the buffer zones from the street and other buildings required by state law. The site also includes a retention pond in back to store storm water.
Weimer said this store is the third one built using a prototype design. The first ones were in West Palm Beach, Fla., and Hinsdale, N.H. Others that are to open soon are in Breezewood, Pa., and Curtice, Ohio, near Toledo. A new store near Columbus will open later this year.
The company's business plan calls for between three and five new showrooms each year, although most of them are relocations of stores. In the past year, two new stores have been opened in Wisconsin.
B.J. Alan operates 41 showrooms in 12 states and 1,200 temporary stands in 17 other states.
shilling@vindy.com