Effective April 3, 2017,
Tidepieces Tide Clocks will no longer be available at BellClocks.com. We
regret this, and apologize for any inconvenience to our customers.
Windward Instruments (owner/operator of BellClocks.com) has been a
Tidepieces Dealer for over 10 years, and was instrumental in helping
launch Tidepieces and promote the brand online.
Windward Instruments has fulfilled most Tidepieces orders via Drop Shipment directly to the customer from Tidepieces.
The reason for this change:
In a surprise announcement from
Alan Winick, owner of the Tidepieces brand, he has refused to continue
drop shipments (shipment directly to retail customer) for 29 of the 33
models. This leaves only 4 Tidepieces models available for our drop ship
customers.
Mr. Winick stated all Tidepieces
models would be available if we agreed to meet new minimum order
requirements, requiring us to purchase in larger quantity, thereby
reducing Tidepieces cost, and increasing their profit.
Unfortunately many manufacturers who start online eventually find
success in direct sales, or regional brick and mortar sales, and chose
to abandon their online Dealers and customer base to maximize profit.
For this reason, Windward Instruments and BellClocks.com will discontinue Tidepieces Tide Clocks.
Since 1999, Windward Instruments has supported online business and
ecommerce platforms which are primarily drop shipment based. These
platforms allow for a wider variety of selection, and quicker shipment
to customers, and tend to reduce prices.
We are happy that Mr. Winick has found success with regional direct
sales, brick and mortar retailers, and trade shows. We regret his
decision regarding drop shipment, and wish him success.