FireOne CEO Andre Abraham has said tolerance and respect are the key for bridging the gap between people who love fireworks and those who love their pets, after complaints about the effects of fireworks resumed on December 22 on social media.
He said, “We have to respect everyone’s views. As Prime Minister Eric Williams said: discipline, production and tolerance are key in our society, but the key word here is tolerance."
Asked about the effect on pets, especially as every year there are reports of pets running away and/or dying when fireworks are used, Abraham said the company sells pet-friendly fireworks.
“We don’t sell over-powered loud items that don’t meet international safety levels, and we do have silent items for sale.
"However, you can’t stop the consumer from buying what they want.
“If we do a 100 per cent silent fireworks show, no one is going to stand up for 20 minutes to watch it, or drones – they would get bored. If all we had was silent fireworks, they would probably find a way to get the scratch bombs again.
"That’s what drives an illegal industry, is when you can’t get something, you find a way to get it.”
Abraham said he did not think people were only using fireworks during that two-hour period because of price and the economy.
“I think it’s more about maturity, becoming more respectful to our neighbours and treating our neighbours as we would want to be treated.”
Abraham said the company, which does not have permanent stores and operates via pop-ups, only markets fireworks for Divali and New Year’s Eve celebrations.
“We keep the celebrations specific to days and times. For us it’s not worth it to have a business selling fireworks throughout the year, because we want to co-exist with society, the elderly, the very young, the animal lovers and whoever else may not be so inclined.
“We try to get people to use the products on specific days and times, even though we don’t have legislation for that. But by taking up a leadership role, we’ve managed to work with our customers.
"We’ve found as years go by, people save the celebration just for New Year’s Eve, maybe for two hours, and by 12.30 am, everything is done. I’m grateful for the customers who have bought into the concept.”
Abraham said he deliberately does not try to scale up his business, in contrast to most other businesses.
“We don’t want to be selling fireworks year-round, as one person using it out of timing could have a negative impact on our reputation and the industry. We use pop-ups, where we open ten days before New Year's Day, and we really only sell on New Year’s Eve and the day before.
"So having the tents is to get the staff acquainted with all the products, make sure all the systems are working, electricity, generators, point of sale, pricing, infrastructure, but it’s really just two days of business.”
He said the company’s sale on December 26, when it gives away one product of equal value for every product bought costs the company a lot, but floods the market with international-quality products.
“The
