Red Sea United States has made a fairly large change on how they service local fish stores. Effective November 1 of this year Red Sea USA will allow local fish stores to submit their orders for Red Seas’s popular line of all-in-one-aquariums directly to Red Sea. In the past stores would submit their orders to their favorite distributor with the distributor then sending the shipment to the store. However, because of thecurrent imbalance of the supply chainRed Sea is trying to get more tanks to customers, a common complaint from would be aquarists. In a message to Reef Builders Red Sea states:
“From 1stNovember Red Sea USA will be selling aquariums and hardware only via direct sales to stores, rather than through distribution. Consumable items (chemicals, salt etc) will be available for stores to buy either as they do now (through distributors) or directly from Red Sea. Everyone is of course very aware of the disruption in international freight, with significant delays and huge increases in costs which show no sign of reducing. In addition, the cost and availability of raw materials especially electronic components are affecting many industries, including our own. We are aware that availability of aquariums and hardware are key to the continued success of our hobby, and that over the last 18 months these items were often out of stock; creating a lot of frustration for both stores and hobbyists. We believe the change in our operation will help address issues of availability and just as importantly, enable us to minimize any price increases.”
Red Sea for its part has doubled down on supporting local fish stores whereas their competition like WaterBox and Innovative Marine and others sell direct to consumers. Hopefully more consumers will be able to enjoy their Red Sea tanks with this structure change this season.
