Biggest thing killing dive shops?

[mdb]

Many SCUBA Distributors/Manufacturers have multi tiered pricing depending on the stores volume.

They have "booking programs" that demand a certain volume order for the best pricing.

The MAP pricing is usually about 10-15% off the MSRP.

That is the "advertised" price.

The store is free to sell at whatever price they choose over the counter, over the phone.

That is why a phone call direct to Leisure Pro, DRIS, Scuba Toys, etc. often results in
a much better price: "out of Box", "Never used floor sample", and just a plain outright
discount.

The smaller retailers are paying a much higher wholesale price than the "big guys".

 

[Marie13]

DRIS *is* my local shop as some of you know. The Monday before Christmas, I had a day off work. Went down to the shop with my SM rig, tanks, and regs. Chris the manager spent about 2.5 hours helping me get my SM gear initially set up. That way, no time is wasted on the basic stuff when I get in the pool with instructor over the winter. Chris even got the tanks into my armpits, not too bad for out of water setup.

Mind you, we did schedule this about a week in advance, but still... I don't know if I can think of another business period that would spend 2.5 hours helping a customer.

I've gone into a few other local shops out of curiousity or to use their pool last winter. In one case, the person helping me just oozed "used car salesman." In another, the person could barely look up from their reading to answer a question. I drive past at least several other shops to get to DRIS or in my weekly errands. DRIS is 50 miles away from me. I know people who regularly drive multiple hours each way to go to the shop.

Putting the shop service to the side, their classes are smaller and not the diver factory I see out at the quarry from other shops. Instructors are willing to go the extra mile for students. Mike (owner) is very responsive to people's concerns. I have absolutely zilch reason to give another local shop business.

I sometimes pick up things elsewhere, if DRIS doesn't carry it. The masks that fit me, after going through many, are ScubaPro. I'll occasionally get small bits from DGX.

 

[Marie13]

The 4-6" stack of unretrieved c-cards (OW/AOW being the lion's share) shows me that the sport has become a "bucket list" item, common in our society. LDS has 1-3 trips to warm water annually that sell out, but that is a small number of divers, and IMHO, the cost they want is unreasonable as I have done it on my own for significantly less. Local diving takes skill and commitment, with wreck diving being the majority of the opportunities. You have to go deep(er) to see anything, and that isn't a 1-2 times a year market. Here on the Eastern Great Lakes, the decline has resulted in 75% loss of the shops. As Trace said, walk into a shop today, and it isn't a pretty atmosphere with the fighting/slander you get dragged into as the margins are so thin....

It took me 2+ years to find a local instructor to do an AN/DP class, and I know the guy lost his shirt teaching it as there was just two of us in the class.

I'm extraordinarily lucky I happened onto DRIS by a friend's recommendation (who had bought stuff from them online). They don't do warm water trips (or haven't in a few years) but have the Great Lakes charter boats for wreck diving. I don't give a flying fig about warm water, but Great Lakes wrecks? Heck, yes! My happy place. Warm water trips could be booked elsewhere online myself but I need to support the folks who enable me to dive the local wrecks.

 

[KevinNM]

There are 3 dive shops in Albuquerque.

One is basically a hobby shop run by a wealthy enthusiast (he bought out an old shop), one is basically a tax write-off for the owner, and the third one seems to be a viable business. The nearest dive site is 100 miles away.

 

[northernone]

I've been close enough as spectator watching a few dive shops close.

Here's the top four I saw:

1. Hobby owners, poor business practices.
2. Desperate for profit overcharging and overselling, pushing high mark up items.
3. Outdated business model, couldn't evolve to the new generation of shoppers. Confusing the required level of service and product focus needed to be viable.
4. Business outlasted passion and outsourcing to unmotivated employees killed the associated community.

A couple more I just don't know. Hard times, economic down turns, deaths etc.

I'm not a dive shop per say, but as the only person with spare orings in a 700 mile radius and teaching people how to dive, I come close.

That's what I've observed,
Cameron

 

[boulderjohn]

Just thought I would throw in this thought about knowing how to run a business.

A dive shop I know was purchased, and the new owner made many decisions in the first years that many of us thought were really bad. To many of us, the decisions seemed borderline crazy. After number of years of losing money as a result of those bad decisions, he made some other radical changes, but I was by then far enough away from it that I was unable to judge the results.

That new owner had an MBA for a major university.

 

[divezonescuba]

Under capitalization, absentee ownership, no prior retail experience according to a former PADI area supervisor.

 

[ajduplessis]

Overinflated prices

 

[drrich2]

ate car dealership for every brand in every city *which is what the industry is most unfortunately based on*, or are they better served by having one large dealership?

So are we seeing a shift from mom’n pop operations to ‘big box stores?’

Richard.

 

[Saniflush]

That new owner had an MBA for a major university.

To be fair, I wouldn't trust most of the folks that I know who have an MBA to stock the shelves.,