So,here's my update. I was contacted by a rep from CW whose only comment was to explain to me that a special order means that the item in question is not in stock. No reference to the exorbitant shipping charge. The funny thing is I discovered that CW is selling the exact same fixture on ebay for only $7.53 shipping. Apparently there is a penalty for ordering direct from the local store. Two of my update posts to this thread have been deleted by mods for sharing the internal communication from the CW rep. This one probably won't be up long either. I have bought my last item from CW. The Internet has better pricing and shipping.
RichH