Just Lost our Last Dive Shop

[letterboy]

You say he is closing his store front, does that mean he intends to run an internet business?

maybe I can finally get my USB airfill 2.0 working . . .

 

[kjack_1]

Shed a little tear this Monday morning. Just got an email from Cajun Divers, our one and only dive shop here in Lafayette, LA. The owner has closed his storefront. It's the poor economy. He will still go around giving lessons and some preventative maintenance. But as a functioning dive shop, it's over. This is a city with a population of over 150,000 and we have no dive shop. Thanks Cajun Divers for your 13 years. I will miss you.

What about the Commercial Dive shop? Granted, it's not in LaFayette - but it's pretty close.

 

[Couv]

Yes it is a shame when a LDS closes down. The economy is certainly a factor, however, some of these shops could take a lessons or two from Dive Sports, Scuba Toys, LP, and Dive Gear Express and get off this silly ride to extinction and do business over the web. I do not know Andy or any of his work mates, but when I see a statement such as he makes on this page:
http://www.cajundivers.com/equipment.htm I cannot help but believe he has contributed to his own demise.

Good luck to you fine folks in Lafayette,

Couv

 

[parzdiver]

Yes it is a shame when a LDS closes down. The economy is certainly a factor, however, some of these shops could take a lessons or two from Dive Sports, Scuba Toys, LP, and Dive Gear Express and get off this silly ride to extinction and do business over the web. I do not know Andy or any of his work mates, but when I see a statement such as he makes on this page:
http://www.cajundivers.com/equipment.htm I cannot help but believe he has contributed to his own demise.

Good luck to you fine folks in Lafayette,

Couv

It is a shame, but after reading his site, he just didn't get it with regards to Internet sales.

 

[sabbath999]

Sounds to me like he is just saving expenses over the winter and will do a new retail location in the spring:

Temporarily closed

 

[Couv]

Hopefully, when he does re-open his doors, his web page will list the equipment he has to sell rather than a warning about buying "grey market gear."

 

[coldsmoke]

I wonder where all these LDS's learned that these cheaper internet goods were grey market. Seems to be a common statement. Who told them they were grey market?

I can almost hear the phone call to AquaPro -

LDS - Uh how come Major Online Retailer can sell this stuff this low and on the interweb?
AquaPro - Uh... It's grey market stuff. We'll fax you a statement for your customers. Good luck....



Hunter

 

[Wookie]

I wonder where all these LDS's learned that these cheaper internet goods were grey market. Seems to be a common statement. Who told them they were grey market?

Hunter

I sat in on a dealer meeting once for a well known manufacturer. Grey market was the term used for equipment that "came back from Europe, or was sold by a dive shop going out of business", meaning that the distressed shop was dumping product on the Grey Market. Does that mean Europeans that buy dive gear don't get a warranty? Or else there were a LOT of dive shops that went out of business about 7 years ago....

 

[coldsmoke]

Yeah, but there's lots of it. And it's been available long before this current economic problem.


Hunter

Edit - Just re-read your post. Are we saying the same thing?

 

[scubafanatic]

What a shame....a town of 150,000 with not one dive shop left. Brace yourself folks. This winter is going to be brutal on dive stores. I wish them all the best of fortunes.

Phil Ellis
Discount Scuba Gear at DiveSports.com - Buy Scuba Diving Equipment & Snorkeling Equipment

....very true! Even in the few years I've been certified (since 2001)...and well before the most recent economic collapse of the last 2 years, the number of local dive shops was declining locally...and I'm in the heart of the Dallas/Ft. Worth metroplex...not exactly the boonies! Additionally, also even before the latest economic crisis, the number of dive boats servicing the Texas Flower Gardens has dropped from 3 down to 1 boat.....and for us Texans, if the Flower Gardens is no longer serviced by local boats, all decent warm water/coral reef type trips will now require expensive air travel (versus a road trip the the Flower Gardens)....futher reducing the number of divers who can afford to go diving...accelerating the decline of the scuba industry!