As a very new diver (but one who's been around business for a while) I'd like to make mention of something here.
In an era of Amazon.com, there are small bookstores that flourish. In an era of Home Depot and Lowes, there are small shops that flourish. The reason? Service. I don't see the SCUBA LDS as any different.
I have 2 dive shops in my town. They carry quite different gear. The one closest to me is very professionally run. Neat, tidy, well staffed, etc. They have some gear I like. But they are almost exclusively suited to recreational diving.
The other shop in town is uhhh, different. Everything is not tidy. But damn, they carry nearly all the gear I like. They allow the area's largest dive club to meet there. They have recreational gear, tech gear, cave gear, etc. They have recreational guys working there, cave divers there, DIR guys there, etc. The class instruction schedule is spotty. Sometimes you have to wait a while for service. If you're in a hurry to get your stuff, this is not the place to be.
But I will say this for both shops. When I first got certified back in '94, I took my class at the second shop, and bought gear at the first one. I support both shops. Both are very good at what they do, just in different ways. Good people at both places.
Now, if you look at my location, you'll see that I am in the mecca for US cave diving. When one shop in town simply does not carry ANY gear suitable for that style of diving, that speaks volume about what kind of customer they plan to service. The other carries two different manufacturers of BP/W, HID lights, cave reels, spools, reels, SMBs, lift bags, dry suits, etc. Their shop also speaks volumes about the clientele they intend to service.
I spoke briefly to the owner of the second shop. My tastes in diving tend more toward exploration, and technical work. I explained to him why I was buying gear from his shop instead of online (though I will get some stuff online). And to be succinct, it was because he employs cave divers, carries tech gear, and services those types of customers to the best of his ability.
The lesson here is that *GOOD* LDS's are not in a lot of danger of getting put out of busniess because of Scubatoys or Leisure Pro. Yes, people are going to buy stuff online, but that's no big deal. It's the shops that may customers feel like sheep, or feel unwanted that are going to feel the pinch. The idea is "value added" service. Having a shop in town that carries nearly all the stuff I want, having guys working there who dive that gear, that shop hosting the local club where I can find dive buddies for 20ft OW dives, or 1000ft cave dives, and them having fair pricing, does wonders.
just my $.02