sea dwelling creatures...

Dear Sea Dwellers,

Hot diggity dog and chap my hide! We continue this barn burning pace with good weather in the future promising to make another great week! I am pumped up to get back at it, and we are stocked up ready to serve!

Very exciting news this week that we were chosen by Reef Nutrition, to be their first mainstream Distributor for their famous and high quality live and freshly raised foods.  I can’t tell you how long we have been wanting to offer their products, and finally the day is here!  This is going to be a big convenience to all of you that can now fill in orders without having to make big minimums for their fed ex rates.  The airline rates and no minimum order will help keep you in stock with fresh product in your refrigerators!  This product is well known and definitely has helped so many hobbyists keep their delicate animals thriving!

Live rock is coming Tuesday….so please take note of that.  I am sorry that we have not been able to keep up with the demand on rock, but we are doing all we can to adjust for the increased volume.  Thanks for your understanding.

LOTS of fish and corals this week….we have expanded the variety with new suppliers from Tonga, which has added some fish we had been lacking lately.  Simple items like Fiji Devil damsels, but it’s nice to have a dozen or more staple items back in the mix on a regular basis.

Don’t forget about my open door policy…..please don’t hesitate to contact me.  I enjoy the challenge of making EVERY SDC customer happy!!

Best regards to all,

Eric and the whole SDC Crew!

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Dear Sea Dwellers,

Let me point out some of the new products on our weekly stock list that some of you might be overlooking.  These are really great “Reef-Safe” items that will spice up your variety and fit into the mainstream market that is most popular.

Starting with the anthias…..we have again in – stock borbonius anthias…very cool, but a bit pricey.  Moving into the most popular and biggest group of new species are the Blue and Gold Blenny, Golden Tiger Blenny (very popular), Starry Blenny, Tribal Blenny, and Two – Spot Blenny (super popular).  Some other cool stuff are Tiger Wardi Goby (my favorite),  Lightening Surge Damsels, Mata Tangs, White Face Tangs, and Cryptic sixline wrasses which look like a six line with no lines, and have huge orange eyes….very cool.

Keeping a good variety in your store can go a long way to keep customers interested and coming back.  Due to space constraints within your store, you might want to rotate variety when you buy, and keep the inventory really changing up from week to week.  Even try two shipments a week and see how it affects your sales.  A good idea is to post in a conspicuous area when your shipment arrivals are coming in.  This will build walk-in traffic along with answering the infamous question we all know and love, “When is your next shipment arriving”! I wish we all had a dime for every time we heard that!

This week has another beautiful long list of product.  Red Sea, Australia, Acropora ultra colored colonies, Belize (oh…big news on that front with a new expansion), too much going on to list it all, but that is what the gigantic stock list is for:)  By the way, we are in the final stages of testing the new website ordering system that will have photos, and VERY user friendly which will make your online purchasing a completely new experience!  I think next week we will go fully live!  Thanks to a handful of customers that have been helping us by placing their orders online on this new system, and for the positive reviews recently received.

Finally for this week, let’s keep in mind what SDC is doing to help you make your business more profitable and successful.  Great Quality number 1.  Great pricing number 2.  Unsurpassed Variety and Depth! number 3 (my favorite).  And the ongoing effort to provide Great Customer Service!

Best regards to all,

Eric and the whole SDC Crew!

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Dear Sea Dwellers,

Winter Storms along with many new shipments received have built us up to a huge inventory and variety for this coming week. Monday “should” bring us another Red Sea Shipment of Purple Tangs will round off a fantastic week.

A fair warning that our live rock shipment is delayed, so we will be short on live rock this week:(

Aside from that, we will remain focused on providing our loyal customers with the great fill rates and quality that we have been striving for and achieving.

I want to welcome all our new customers into our SDC family! For those of you who haven’t ordered with us lately, please know we are thinking of you and want you to know that we do appreciate your business and are trying hard to impress you every week.  We all know it’s not a perfect world, but I will be here to help you deal with any issues that do arise, and we will not abandon you at the first sign of trouble or in the event you need some help.  It amazes me to hear new customers to come to us because their previous supplier had not been willing to help them out when it was needed……SHAME on them, but I appreciate their help that have brought so many to us.  I won’t forget nor make that same mistake!

Please keep the good communication coming.  I do want to hear from each of you whether it’s good or bad…..just as long as I hear:)

Thanks for all those showing continued support each week….Everyone here really appreciates it.

Best regards to all,

Eric and the whole SDC Crew

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Dear Sea Dwellers,

I am somewhat reserved to celebrate 2010 at this point, but very pleased with the results thus far.  My thoughts go out to everyone in the industry that is grinding it out each and every day!  For those of us that continue to struggle, let’s find a way to make it better.  We have ears…..we hear things……we know we are not out of the woods yet, and we are doing our best to keep the value high and the quality at it’s peak.  We are working hard to make every week better and more exciting than the previous.

If I sound like a broken record, I apologize, but the focus on variety and gigantic inventory remains our top priority.  We are keeping the “Peddle to the Metal” and keeping our inventory at peak levels.  Fill rates are unsurpassed in the industry, and we strive to keep that improving.  The updated inventory and the new changes to the website will help customers make the purchasing experience with us enjoyable and practical.  This coming Friday we hope to launch the new online shopping cart which is a totally new look and feel.  Please watch for that news and give it a try.

Thanks for all those showing continued support each week….Everyone here really appreciates it.

Best regards to all,

Eric and the whole SDC Crew!

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Dear Sea Dwellers,

The Sea Dwelling Web Site has just taken another makeover and now has includes the new SDC Video Channel.  The new videos will introduce you to all the sales reps, staff, take you through the warehouse on a virtual tour and so much more!  We plan to add video weekly and will have all kinds of great educational and instructional topics. You will see me in all my goofy glory along with many of our SDC team……so I hope you enjoy the experience.

Gigantic inventory remains the theme here at SDC combining that with a strong variety.  In our spare time, we continue to seek out new products and suppliers that will keep your customers smiling:)  We all know that enthusiasts love to see new products a the retail stores, and we understand the need for a fresh line up of products to show them.  It’s smarter to keep smaller shipments coming into your stores each week, rather than try to wait and do a larger shipment every other week.

With that in mind, we will soon be launching a new shipping program with Fed Ex for smaller multiple box shipments, say 4 boxes or more, where we will offer some of the strongest door-to-door rates we have ever seen.  More on this to come, but let’s start thinking of how we can take advantage of a super priced shipping rate that will make those smaller shipments affordable and super convenient. No more stress about going to the airport for only 4 boxes when you can have Fed Ex deliver for close to the same cost.  These multiple box shipments are not handled box by box either, so the chance of one box being left behind will no longer be a factor.  That’s nice!

So many new customers over the last few months, we are very grateful and want to welcome everyone to their new home to stay!  We have been listening very carefully to the concerns and problems that have led these customers to us, and we are making sure that we remain ahead of the rest, and fine tune the challenges that face us on a weekly basis.  We best deal with this by having weekly meetings with our staff and reviewing the doa claims each week for any patterns so they may be corrected quickly.  Every customer should know that they play a major part in our success, and the feedback, good and bad, is always taken with appreciation.  Keep it coming…….thanks so much for taking the time to let us know how your shipments have arrived.

Thanks for all those showing continued support each week….Everyone here really appreciates it.

Best regards to all,

Eric and the whole SDC Crew!

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