maybe this will help. from a diff board.
All you EVER wanted to know about Southdown
Hi all.
I thought perhaps I could help everyone out a little bit by consolidating all information on the southdown sand situation w/ Home Depot.
The reason I do this - it keeps popping up - but not the whole story - so after a couple phone calls, a few HD trips and some research here we go:
Southdown tropical play sand is the new thing in reef beds. Why? A study was done and found that this sand has a "perfect" mixture of particulate size for DSBs. Don't ask me - I use CC and am intent on killing my fish. I got some for my seahorse tank and refugium.
Ok - now who can get it? Unfortunately it is only available from Home Depot in the Northeast. Southdown is (was) a regional company from Pennsylvania. Last year in Oct/Nov they were purchased by a company called Cemex. This is a company based in Mexico that "financial investors" believe will be restructuring to concentrate solely on Cement products and may severely decrease or stop the ancillary products of lime and sand Southdown does or did manufacture.
What does this mean? According to Home Depot - they are having more and more problems getting Southdown Sand. My feeling - get it while you can - as it may not be around in the near future. Conjecture solely - but certainly possible.
So - if a company like Home Depot is having problems getting a product - what do they do? They find another source. Home Depot has done that.
Caveat Reefer
The SKU for Southdown play sand is 578-819. This is a universal SKU for 2 different vendors of play sand. The other supplier is NOT Southdown and looks strikingly different. If you read nothing else - read this -
Do Not Order Southdown Playsand w/ this SKU or description and Expect to get Southdown.....The manufacturer will vary and needs to be physically checked by you or the HD guy.
To help things along if you call Home Depot or go there the product is found in one of two places. It is found by the lumber or in the Garden Center. The Garden Center manager is who does the ordering and that is "division" or "section" 28 (Garden).
Some Home Depots will consider doing transfers of this product. I made some calls and found that they will charge a customer $35 for a "stock transfer" regardless of 2 bags or 1 skid. The problem is getting them to make good on this or getting them to actually get it done. I have read several threads where getting HD to actually do the transfer was an exercise in futility. To my knowledge it has not been done successfully yet. This is probably due to the managers getting paid on turn and earn (low inventory) and the lack of profit from a bag of sand.
So that is what I have to report all...If you have any questions - ask away.......and to prove I know of what I speak....I offer up my very significant investment purchased today -
and,
I'm glad people got some good information out of this. That makes me happy. Some of this information will be very slightly redundant - but is a compilation of several boards' information - pls forgive my not wanting to type this 4 different ways.
It sounds as if the transferring is possible - but will require some real effort and some luck to find the right person to do it. I do subscribe to about 4 boards and have heard of 5 cases so far reported of getting sand transferred out of the Northeast - It has ranged in cost from no extra charges to $100 plus freight, plus cost of product. Nice parity there in policy Home Depot...sheesh...
Two cases reported of people ordering by SKU and getting the "non Southdown" play sand.....remember to have them check for Southdown style before transferring and ordering. I have also seen at least 20 people post they are S.O.L. Keep trying folks if you have the time and desire - looks like it is possible.
Southdown has been reportedly transferred from Northeast HD stores to Cincinnati, OH, Nashville, TN & Winston/Salem, NC. Anyone get it transferred from a HD farther west or south than these places?
It also seems, like I reported earlier, that the product is stocked only the Northeast (including New England). It is not stocked in every location by any stretch of the imagination. Several people did as I did and found that Southdown's SKU is not listed on the Home Depot website. I called and asked why. Apparently if it is not UPS"able" it does not go on the website.
During the conversation w/ Home Depot it turns out there are actually 5 manufacturers listed under this sku that make playsand for Home Depot NE region. The northeast region is defined as northern Virginia market over to Pennsylvania and into New England. If Southdown is at a store that is not in this area - it is a fluke.
The Home Depot policy according to the manager at customer service I talked to re: shipping Southdown between stores is "Get Bent". So - if you want it shipped to your local HD - polish up on your smooth talking, ask for a lady in the Garden Center and do your very best Barry White voice.......we got it together now baby.......
The manager suggested that if I really wanted Southdown - call them directly and pool an order. So I called Southdown. The number for Southdown Sales and Customer Service (located in Easton, PA) is 800-526-1753. The closest manufacturing plant to me is in Thomasville, PA (York, PA) and they do sell direct to the public in skid quantities and will even do a will call (pick-up).
They also have a plant in northwestern New Jersey:
1 Limecrest Rd
Lafayette, NJ 07848
(973) 383-2000
It was also suggested that LFS buy a few pallets and help their customers out. Southdown is trying very hard to send their sand to other markets - but as of yet - Home Depot being set up regionally - has "local vendors" and is not buying from them out of the NE region. Southdown confirmed that they only ship to HD stores above Northern Virginia. They don't even ship to HD stores in Virginia Beach or Richmond. The lady at Southdown was very nice and helpful. She said there are no plans as of now to discontinue the production of sand......who knows....
