The future of this web store.
Important news. It is with mixed feelings that I must inform all who may read this that the Tools from Japan store will change how it currently operates from the beginning of 2019 There are several reasons for this, more than I’m willing to explain in detail in this short announcement, but they include increasingly limited supplies and constantly expanding supply times of many of the items we sell as well as a noticeable change of expectations from those who wish for us to send along items which we are able to supply. We have had many customers for many years who are fully aware of how we operate, which in short was offering as wide a range as possible for a reasonable price and the expectation that this may take some time to be arranged was part of the deal. This past year has been especially hard for myself personally, and has made me look at what is best for us (myself and my family), and when all things were considered this store as it presently exists simply isn’t part of a long term sustainable plan. The change will be gradual, beginning with items that have longer lead times no longer being able to be ordered, items with shorter and more predictable lead times still remaining for sale and finishing with the store no longer accepting orders as they will not be able to be fulfilled. For right now, there will be no changes in order to allow anyone who wishes to order items that are currently difficult to procure the opportunity to acquire them. The current plan will be to offer selected items in the future through an alternative arrangement if it becomes apparent that it will be a wanted service. If there is little or no demand, then we will not follow through on that plan. When this store started, it was at a time when availability of the items we offered was limited (at best!) and/or expensive, and the plan was to change that so that a wider range of items could be made available at a reasonable cost. As time went on it became clear that many were pleased with what we were doing, and especially the no nonsense approach to Japanese tools was appreciated. Recently however things have evolved somewhat, some for the better and some not. There are a lot of new options for procuring the items we sell, which it appears many people are taking up. At the same time, while we’ve tried to maintain our original principals of offering a wide range with reasonable prices in exchange for expecting the time to make that happen. It has become increasingly obvious that the patience we ask for is often not satisfactory to many customers. (This last point especially is a significant reason for the decision behind this. A particularly impatient person decided to try and cause maximum strife without legitimate cause to do so. It was a time when I was at less than my best and caused me to make a decision I will regret for the rest of my life and irreparably harmed my ability to do ‘this’ in a way that it should be done.) More details as they’re available, but the store will cease to exist as it currently does within the 1st quarter of 2019. Thank you for your understanding.
Stuart Tierney, toolsfromjapan.com |