The Mitchells are in the cake business, but not the kind that involves bakeries and frosting.

As the owners of Mitchell Distributing, one of the only local firework distributors, Rickey Mitchell and his wife, Melba, deal with fuses more often than fondant, and the “cakes,” an industry term for fireworks with one fuse and multiple canisters, are best sellers during the Fourth of July.

Rickey would know. Fireworks are his thing, just like they were his father’s.

“From 1939 until now there’s been a Mitchell associated with selling fireworks in and around Vicksburg every year,” he said. “It’s something I’ve been associated with and dealing with since I was 9 years old. No matter what we did, when it came around to Christmas and New Year’s and the Fourth of July, we sold fireworks.”

Their current store location at 3506 Manor Drive was completed in 2000, giving Rickey more than 16 years selling fireworks from the same location.

“Since that time when we had 4-, 5- and 6-year-olds coming in—that’s 16 years ago. Now that kid is 25, and he’s bringing his kids in,” he said. “We’ve been here long enough to see another generation coming through those doors. We’re local, and we’re grateful.”

The Mitchells only sell fireworks between June 15 and July 5 for the Fourth of July holiday and between Dec. 5 and Jan. 2 for Christmas and New Year’s, when it’s legal to sell fireworks in the state. Those two times of year are what Rickey waits for.

“Because there’s only two times a year when it’s legal to sell them, it builds anticipation,” he said. “In Texas they just legalized fireworks on Memorial Day. I don’t want to do that here. I like having two (holidays) because it builds anticipation.”

They begin preparing for the next holiday as soon as the last one ends, they said. They received their first shipment for this Fourth of July in April with another in May and one Thursday, he added.

“You never really know what you’re going to need,” he said. “You can’t outguess the customer.”

But that doesn’t stop them from trying.

Rainfall conditions and even labor strikes affect how much inventory they will be able to get. Because the Christmas/New Year’s season has two holidays, a longer break and a longer time to sell, they normally bring in more customers toward the end of the year than in the summer, Melba said, but they try to keep popular items in stock for both seasons.

“We really try hard to buy things our customers will like and we know they will want,” she added. “We have a lot of repeat customers that we try to keep happy.”

The Mitchells have gained such a rapport with their customers that Rickey said he will often get a call giving him a dollar amount to spend and he picks out the fireworks and numbers them in the order they should be fired.

“Me, I like to finish big, so you start them up with something small—ranging anywhere from $5 to $14 and $16 dollars—and then you finish with something that goes in the $35 to $50 range. Work your way backwards,” Rickey advised.

In addition to preorders, Rickey estimated they would see upwards of 1,500 people walk through the door this holiday weekend.

“Friday and Saturday will be crazy and we want it to be,” Melba added.

Fireworks Festival is the cake they agreed was their best seller, and Zeus is their best reload, the term for a firework that involves lighting each individually and putting it in a canister to launch.

Their newest items are smaller fireworks called Shocking Pink and RPG, which are in the $10 range to match anyone’s budget.

Each firework they sell has a safety label on it, and normally comes with a safety lecture, Melba said.

“Fireworks are safe if you follow the instructions and follow common sense practices,” Rickey added. “You have to have adults out there. You can’t do anything crazy with them. You can get hurt with anything and fireworks are one of things.”

For the seriousness surrounding firework safety, Rickey said his business is a good time, and he hopes to spread that to others.

“If they’re kind enough to come here, I’m going to do my best to make them happy,” he said.