Roadracn, you did a LOT of hard work bringing all of this together. I am very sorry to see that it has been in vain. You coordinated a lot of horses and that is no easy task.
I don't see why everybody is bothering to point fingers and throwing stores under the bus. The wholesale/retail relationship exists all around us in ALL of the products we buy. Why should we expect it to work any differently for the reef hobby? This hobby is the only one I have ever been a part of that even considers going to the wholesaler. And for what? We buy the fish, feel like we get really great deals, then we take the losses when they die rather than the stores. If I might remind you, of the three shops I worked at (all of which were successful and long standing businesses), not a one of them were in the black on saltwater fish.
If you doubt the validity of who absorbs the fish losses...just review the thread that summarizes the results of the last order.
http://archive.reefcentral.com/forum...ghlight=hawaii