Aesthetics in a dive shop?

In the last week or so, I've had occasion to visit a couple of dive shops I don't normally go into, and I've also been following the marketing thread.

Many of the dive shops I've been in in the last eight years are somewhere in the range of drab to outright grubby. Some of them look like somebody's garage, and many have had little or no thought given to making the space light, attractive, or well laid out.

One of the things I like about the shop for which Peter teaches is that it's just plain attractive -- used to be more so, when there was more inventory to make it look more prosperous, but the space is well lit, the carpet isn't gray, there's a stained glass window of divers . . . it's just kind of cheerful. I like going in there -- still do, after eight years. I also love going to the Zero Gravity dive shop in Mexico, which is also bright, cheerful, well laid out, and immaculately clean.

But I wonder how much that kind of thing matters to anyone else? Since it's still true that over two thirds of divers are men, perhaps it doesn't MATTER all that much if a place looks like a garage where some teenager is tinkering with a hot rod?

I'd love to hear what other folks think on this.

TSandM:

...But I wonder how much that kind of thing matters to anyone else? ...

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Personally, zero. I like shops that look like diving lockers.

If a shop looks like a dive locker, I expect the staff to know a lot more than I do if it looks like a retail store. I expect to find things, like bolt-snaps, that I wouldn't find in a typical Rec LDS. If I don't, then I will most likely consider it a poorly maintained shop and not frequent the place again. I'm also less likely to buy something spur of the moment.

If a shop looks like a wetsuit factory, I will assume (rightfully or wrongfully) they are simply trying to upsell their customer base and will start off with a negative opinion (rightfully or wrongfully) that the shop staff will have to overcome.

If a shop looks like a good mix of dive gear that is laid out reasonably, with some dive photos or "museum pieces" on the wall with a bright interior that is clean, I'll likely want to hang out a bit more and learn more about the staff and chit chat about local diving opportunities, scheduled trips, etc. Occasionally I'll buy a little thing here or there in shops like this. I did it at Undersea Sports in FLL the last two times I was there and at Ocean Sports in Lompoc, CA recently as well.

I'm an older male diver, but I do appreciate a well lighted clean shop. I understand the garage look approach also, but if given the choice of two dive shops with everything else being equal, I'd chose the cleaner well organized shop. Also this issue might be something that may affect a younger newer diver staring to dive. Kids today are exposed to many other sports with shops up to date on all trends, and have that contemporary look. Also if a non-diver was interested in starting to dive, I'd guess that a garage look might be confusing, and maybe even intimidating and off putting to someone like that.

Just saying.

I do not care about the glitz. However, a certain amount of neatness and ease of finding things has a positive aspect. Rightly or wrongly if the place is mess you wonder about how well they keep up their gear, would you trust them with a REG repair, etc. Knowledge and helpfulness of the staff is probably top of the list.

Sort of like a dentist's office. The larger and fancier it is the more he/she will have to charge me in overhead to pay for it but you want a certain cleanliness and professionalism.

When Zero G put in their Nitrox maker, they ran all the little pipes that were required so that they were all PERFECTLY horizontal and PERFECTLY parallel -- I look at that and think, "That attention to detail is what I want in someone whose stuff I'm renting!"

I do like a shop that has good lighting, is clean and neat, and not too cramped. I figure if they take pride in how their shop looks, they take pride in the other aspects of the business.

As a follow-up, here's a quick story. When I was growing up, there was a guy who ran an "old country store" next to my grandma's farm. There was an area set aside in that store with a table, chairs, deck of cards, dominos, coffee pot, etc. It could easily sit 8 to 10 folks. Usually during lunch and in the evenings, the local farmers would gather and just hang out and shoot-the-**** so to speak. It seems as if someone was always there having a good time. Of course they would be buying drinks, nabs, or whatever. I know that renting space for a dive shop isn't cheap and I'm sure what space you do have needs to be utilized in the very best way. I just wish one of the local shops around here had such a space where divers could just come and "hang out" and get to know other divers. But maybe that's just not practical in these times.

I really do like the grubby, dirty, old dive locker shops manned by a crusty old dude with lots of stories. You never know what you'll find in some of these shops. But that's because I'm a grubby, dirty, crusty old dude with lots of stories.

A family of mom, dad and teenage daughter who are looking into scuba diving for the first time are going to feel very different and they probably won't care about how much heliox the crusty old dude has blended in his life. All things being equal, they will go for the clean, neat store. In some markets it won't matter but in markets with lots of dive shops where competition is intense, those things will make the difference as to who gets the customer.

TSandM:

One of the things I like about the shop for which Peter teaches is that it's just plain attractive -- used to be more so, when there was more inventory to make it look more prosperous, but the space is well lit, the carpet isn't gray, there's a stained glass window of divers . . . it's just kind of cheerful.
I'd love to hear what other folks think on this.

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Bubbles?

Although Northwest Dive Institute (NWDI) didn't make it, I did like their approach to the layout. It was a small-ish shop, but no glass cabinet with the register; they had an oval table with plenty of seats, and did all their transactions via iPad. It was very welcoming with a place to sit while waiting on tank fills etc, overall a very comfortable shop.

It also depends on what type of diver the shop caters to. I'm small and run out of my basement store, home office. Not flashy, but homey. There are four or five local shops that cater to recreational divers. One that used to get a lot of tech divers, and two that have closed. My customer base is on line and a mix of rec and tech with more towards the tech end, entry level tech, or the new diver who plans to go tech. As a result I stock towards that person.

I recently found out that no other shop near me, according to a customer that drove 45 minutes to get to me, sells two inch webbing. I always have it on hand. Bungee cord? Nope was told they could order it and take about a week. I asked him how much he needed and did he want 1/8, 3/16, 1/4, or 3/8. I have it all. As well as slides, double enders, and bolt snaps. And I just got in a nice assortment of hardware from Manta/Highseas Millworks. He informed me that the shop I used to think of as tech did not seem to know what he was talking about. They did offer the idea of sewing two weightbelts together. Guess they changed staff. I guess what I'm saying is I don't judge a book by it's cover. Lots of stock in terms of useless stuff does not impress me.

What does is a sales person that knows the gear and can make suggestions based on experience. Not mfg propaganda. Knows what I am talking about. All the shops around me sell wetsuits so why would I compete with that? I want my students and customers to feel relaxed and at home. Not like they are in Walmart. My favorite book store was in an old house with many rooms. And though the owner seemed to know where everything was I rather enjoyed the treasure hunt if you will at times. So unorganized to one is just a different system to another in many cases.
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