I Don't Understand Dive Shops

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You can't' blame millennials.

As I look back there are other things I wish I'd found time to try.

People on SB often claim the Industry is in decline. Maybe in the US. Go anywhere tropical you'll see a thriving industry.
 
You can't' blame millennials.

As I look back there are other things I wish I'd found time to try.

People on SB often claim the Industry is in decline. Maybe in the US. Go anywhere tropical you'll see a thriving industry.

I know I did not do a good job separating my thoughts from the article that discussed millenials...my intent was not to blame millenials on the decline of the industry, it was just an example of one market segment aspect.

I really do think the industry paradigm needs to change and the health or lack there of it in the brick and mortar segment of the cycling industry is a parallel to where things are headed or have already arrive with regards to the SCUBA industry. Bicycle shops that have created niche ways to cater to their customer base and those that have an online presence tend to do better and last longer than those adhering to a local sales/repair shop mentality.

I see the similar things here in Belgium...there seem to be 2 kind of shops, one that are fulltime business and they have an online presence or cater to a niche group or those that are run as part time businesses that mainly cater to those loyal customers...the folks who own the part time businesses are not as dependent on lots of business to make ends meet and seem to eschew an increase in customers coming through their doors...they seem to be happy with having enough business to sustain what ever business model they have developed...but they have that luxury because they have other jobs/careers....for instance one local shop is owned by a firefighter who got his start maintaining the SCBA equipment his firehouse uses and then the gear the S&R team uses, he eventually became an instructor and developed a dive center around supporting that. He capitalized on his skills and took manufacturer technician training so he could expand the services he offered to repair/overhaul gear. His shop is tiny, run out of a storefront that is basically the aboveground basement of his house. He is not open every day and his schedule is affected by his need to be at the firehouse. The shop supplements his income and generates students that fuel his passion to teach. in June I asked him for business cards to distribute to the divers on the base I am located at and he said he does not want the extra business as he expected to have over 350 regulator sets in his shop for periodic service starting mid-october...he just doesn't have the time to deal with any major increases in workload...but the shop does not pay his bills, being a professional firefight does. There is another local shop that is owned by a guy who only opens for business from 5:30pm to 7pm during the week as he is a distributor for a few italian companies...he spends his days traveling around taking/distributing orders is my guess...he could care less if one shops at his store and is not well regarded by many in the local diving community but he won't change because the shop is just a side business that makes enough to sustain itself. I know of 2 full time shops...one is only about a year or so old and caters more to the tech crowd which seems to be a growing market here....they are a great bunch of guys and I like their shop...they are just an hour away...it would be great if they last. The other full time shop I know of is is in Brussels...they have been around awhile, offer classes, lots of gear, have an online presence where you buy stuff without having to go to the store, have folks who know their stuff, have a travel department, and have a small satellite shop about 20min outside of brussels. They seem to do well despite being nowhere near a dive site. Here in Belgium one either really gets into cold water diving or they tend to be a casual diver that occasionally dives on vacation. There is no shortage of gear on second hand sites similar to craigslist as there seems to be endless supply of people fascinated with diving who purchase gear to support a habit they quickly get bored with as many folks will only dive the same quarry or lake only so many times before moving on to other activities.

-Z
 
I recall an article or post I read a couple of years ago that discussed the decline of diving amonst millenials...it postulated that it is not really in decline but is pushing the industry to transform in a way that the industry is not comfortable based on the current paradigm. It spoke about how diving is gear intensive which is then becomes space intensive. Millenials, it mentioned typically are living in smaller apartments in urban areas, they lack the space to store gobs of diving equipment, mountain bikes, or whatever other recreational activity. The average new diver will conduct only a few dives a year at most, the overhead on equipment and the space to store that equipment is not very cost effective to someone who only wants to dive occasionally and in warmer/clearer waters. The idea of diving in cold, murky waters is very appealing and lacks the rewards that many new divers are looking for. The adage of diving in s****y conditions will make you a better diver when the conditions are better is only good for those who really care. The article points out that the mentality of millenials is that they are looking for "experiences"...not life long certifications. They want to be able to say "been there, done that!" regardless of whether their experience is profound or not. With discovery diving programs there is less of a need for open water training. In addition, with 2 day certifications where one can blitz through e-learning on there own and just hop in the water on vacation to get certified, it often leaves one wondering why one would pay more and devote more time to the certification process. The idea that one can scuba dive one weekend and sky dive the next without any commitment to gear is growing mentality. And the whole gear issue is another thing that has been tackled in many threads on SB....look how many people have invested in equipment, look at how many shops push their students to purchase equipment up front before know what they really want/need. I have seen students buy equipment because they see their instructor uses that particular piece of gear...it is common for new divers in our club to purchase the same computer as the instructor who certified them because "it must be good if the instructor is using it"...not realizing that the instructor is only using that computer because he doesn't plan to replace it until it fails and is not using it because it is still considered good or not. Purchasing a regulator set that the average person will use maybe 10 times in their first year and then maybe 2-3 times the second year and then it needs a full overhaul at nearly 50 %-75% of the price of new is not a cost solution for young urbanites....then as their frequency of diving declines further, the cost to maintain their "life support" equipment does go away as it will need/should be serviced before using even if it was stored and unused during the period of non-use. Investing in a form fitting wetsuit that may not fit in a couple years time due to weight loss or more likely gain adds to the equation of whether it is worth it. The cost of owning a tank is rediculous unless one is diving on a regular basis...and in the US/Canada where a visual inspection is mandatory every year instead of at the halfway point between hydros like in Europe is just another financial barrier to aquiring and owning gear. The question often comes up: "where will people go to fill their tanks if all the shop's close?" ...I did some diving along the cost of the netherlands....it was common to find a trailer or small building with a coin operated fill station....there is no reason why some enterprising individuals could not take advantage of that paradigm and set up shop on the weekends at popular dive sites. There has been a rise in freelance mobile bicycle repair providers at trail heads and along rail to trail intersections/parking lots...why not something similar for SCUBA? Bicycle co-ops where one can pay to use the shop and ask for help have cropped up all around urban centers...there is little voodoo in overhauling and adjusting a regulator...perhaps this is model that should/could be explored. The reality is that shops tend to not want to invest in stocking products that don't have high turnover and the stuff does have high turnover is typically the stuff that most new divers don't really need but shops are more than happy to take their hard earned cash...when the new diver eventually discovers this they lose respect for the shop and the industry in general. The idea of a shop ordering stuff they refust to stock is failed approach to a s***y business model....this approach is parly to blame for decimating the brick and mortar cycling industry....many find there is little value in taking the time to drive to a shop only to find they don't have what they need/want and the shop is recommending they order it for them only for the customer to have to drive home and then drive back to pick the product up when it eventually arrives at the shop...it is often found to be more time and cost effective to just order off the internet and have it delivered in 24-48 hours...sometimes even less. In the cycling industry this has led to brick and mortar shops being used to try stuff on that will eventually be purchase on line...but then you have sites like Zappos where you can buy 2 or 3 sizes, have it shipped to you in very little time, and then return the items that don't fit at little to no additional cost. It is often cited that the benefit of a bicycle shop or a dive shop is the "relationship"...that is a bucket that only holds water as long as the people on the other side of the counter are appealing to develop that relationship with...great shops with great folks like DRIS are few and far between...and the only reason to develop a relationship is if you are going to participate avidly in the activity...I get great customer service from DRIS and I don't have a personal relationship with them...I don't even live on the same continent...same is true of DGX. Companies like Deep 6 Gear are pushing for changes in the industry by offering parts kits and making it easy to send the gear you purchase from them back to them for service if desired...they are also making it attainable to learn how to service gear oneself...why do I need to put up with often times dodgy customer service, or folks that don't know much about the products they are selling or the products the customer wants to buy that they don't carry? The idea that "tech diving" is increasingly becoming part of the recreational diver training continuum promotes the idea of knowing ones equipment and being prepared to service it in order to deal with and/or prevent equipment casualties and failures. The current dive shop business model is failing and needs overhauling....what the future looks like is unclear at the present moment but as market costs go up and folks become tighter with the expendable portion of their income, if there is no change in the industry it is predictable that more and more shops will be closing their doors.

-Z
I like everything you wrote above, I think all the points are valid. I think the recession really permanently changed a lot of stuff, along with the added popularity to shop more online for deals.
But prior to the internet there was Leisure Pro’s thick catalog. So mail order for great deals was there before.

As far as where to get air fills. There used to be a guy up on our coast that had a mobile air fill trailer. He got old and decided not to do it anymore, but he had a good little gig going on the weekends for a while. The problem was his filtration wasn’t the best and a lot of moisture got in the tanks. He complained that business was on a slow steady decline over the years and this was way before the recession hit. There were just less divers going out to the coast, whereas years prior there seemed to be a thriving dive scene with many classes making up the bulk of his business. All that went away. So he didn't have the money to keep up his compressor up and so he Called it quits.
But I think there are other places that something like this could still work, just not where he was doing it.
If the dive shops dried up then there would be more demand for portable air fill operations. I could also see coop dive clubs that require an annual or monthly membership that let you fill your tanks and hang out in the clubhouse. Somebody of course would have to be in charge, but with some structure it could be done.
My buddy actually has a large commercial air compressor in his garage that came out of a failed dive shop back in 2010. He completely rebuilt it and even pumps nitrox through a mixing stick. It provides super clean air because he’s a fanatic about keeping it in tip top shape.
I also have access to a couple fire departments. My brother is the chief at one dept. up on the coast, and I have access to another one.
Wetsuits might be the other thing. Random of the rack wetsuits kind of need to be tried on in person. But there is the whole world of custom built wetsuits, so that pretty much bypassed the LDS with OTR suits. I don’t think custom suit builders are going anywhere.
I think if all the local dive shops dried up the real divers would still find a way to get what they need to keep diving. It’s the dabblers and conveinience/vacation divers that would not have a local source for classes gear and trips.
 
...snip
I think if all the local dive shops dried up the real divers would still find a way to get what they need to keep diving. It’s the dabblers and conveinience/vacation divers that would not have a local source for classes gear and trips.
As you say the keen will find a way which will probably be going back to DIY, home compressors etc. There are enough people out there who have sufficient knowledge to start smaller more reactive businesses than the large conglomerates that currently have a huge share of the business.
 
Only one of those dive shops is on the coast, the Crescent City, California one, and it does appear to still be open. Nothing on the Oregon or Washington coast. When I grew up in Oregon, there used to be a four dive shops on the Oregon coast at once. Those dive shops on the map are inland. The ones in Oregon are over the coast range and in the Willamette Valley. If I still lived back home I'd have to drive two to three hours for an air fill now.

Whoops! I see there's a relatively new NAUI shop across Humboldt Bay from Eureka.

I shouldn't complain, I guess. Most people shouldn't be diving the coast, as it's not exactly safe or easy or, on most days, even possible.


There is one dive shop still in Astoria, but it doesn't exactly have a stellar reputation.

I think a big problem on the Oregon coast is just population/tourist density. If a lot of your customers need to drive over an hour along the coast to get to you, it isn't much different than having to drive an hour and a half inland.
 
Yeah, I was thinking that coastline wouldn't be ideal for shore diving. Perhaps all those shops inland on the interstate are catering to those diving lakes and quarries (are there many of those)? Either way, those inland shops don't seem to me to be very convenient to anyone. Especially if you lived on the coast, but even if you lived along the interstate and had to drive 20-30 miles to one of them, then go to a road to the coast and drive another bunch of miles round trip.
 
I keep thinking of more questions, out of curiosity. Are rentals usually a loss leader or a profit maker? Seems like a large up front investment.
For almost all shops, rental gear is also used for scuba instruction.
 
A lot of how a shop works is regional. For example, if you are in a place like South Florida, you can make a significant part of your income from filling tanks for local diving. In Colorado, filling tanks is nearly exclusively for instruction.
 
There is one dive shop still in Astoria, but it doesn't exactly have a stellar reputation.

I think a big problem on the Oregon coast is just population/tourist density. If a lot of your customers need to drive over an hour along the coast to get to you, it isn't much different than having to drive an hour and a half inland.
And the surf on the coast precludes diving a huge chunk of the time
And its cold water
Seems like most Portland metro area divers actually drive the 3 hrs up to Hood Canal in WA to where they can reliably dive
 
Only one of those dive shops is on the coast, the Crescent City, California one, and it does appear to still be open. Nothing on the Oregon or Washington coast. When I grew up in Oregon, there used to be a four dive shops on the Oregon coast at once. Those dive shops on the map are inland. The ones in Oregon are over the coast range and in the Willamette Valley. If I still lived back home I'd have to drive two to three hours for an air fill now.

Whoops! I see there's a relatively new NAUI shop across Humboldt Bay from Eureka.

I shouldn't complain, I guess. Most people shouldn't be diving the coast, as it's not exactly safe or easy or, on most days, even possible.
Have you been to the Washington coast? For all practical purposes its not divable. Duncan Rock (Neah Bay) gets dove maybe 4 or 6 times a year on perfect swell days in summer.

Probably less than 100 people have dove off the actual Washington Coast in the last 20 years anywhere south of Neah Bay. Its National Marine Sanctuary, National Park, and there is one marina and a whopping two boat ramps in over a hundred miles of coastline which is at most divable in July and August. And a 4 to 5 hour drive from any population center. You can't even have a dive boat out at Neah Bay year round because the moorage or dry storage fees would be 10x the profit from 8 or 10 weekends (max, assuming no storms) of actual business. Curly's Resport in Seiku (on the Strait of Juan de Fuca) used to have a compressor but divers bring their own tanks of nitrox out to Neah Bay now. They don't want breathing gas from a 30yo compressor that can barely afford to pay its way for gas analysis or filters. Investing $20K in a new one to fill perhaps 200 tanks a year is not cost effective or a worthwhile investment. People make investments in diving infrastructure where the people and business are. Which is the Seattle metro area south to the Willamette Valley.

Note: I have taken my personal boat out of La Push. The summer time visibility is awful (inches) and the swells make you want to puke above and below the water even for normally stout stomachs.
 

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