Future of DiveShops?

[Eric Sedletzky]

For shops in an area where there is a lot of local diving, offering fills can create a small profit, but the demise of the fill-based shop shows that it will not be much. For a club in the same area, it can work well as an alternative. I don't live in such an area. Here is Colorado filling tanks is a HUGE loss for the shops. They have all the expenses of doing it with almost none of the revenue. They only do it because it is necessary to support instruction. If you have a club doing it instead, they will be sharing that loss, and they will have to figure out a way to share it equitably. Think that through. If only a small number of people are diving locally, you have only a small number of people sharing those costs, with no revenue from instruction and sales to help out. The per tank costs will be enormous.

I occasionally make nitrox in this area for myself and students. Most shops won't do it because there are not enough students using it to justify the cost. The per tank cost for my oxygen is outrageous because I don't have enough people to share the costs of both the gas and the rental of the supply tanks.

In contrast, there is a small shop (Glenn's Aquarius II) right down on the Breakwater in Monterey, CA.
Most of their income is from fills. they do hundreds per week during peak season in the summer when almost all central and northern California OW classes go to San Carlos beach at the Breakwater.
They also make a decent profit on rentals, next they make pretty good on trinket items, t-shirts, and emergency fix items, and last they make some money on larger gear sales.
This is almost opposite of the typical LDS.
At one time there were five dive shops in Monterey, now there are three, and the two that closed up were pre recession. They were larger shops, one was into tech gear and the other was way overpriced and unfriendly.

 

[scubafanatic]

I buy air/gas at my LDS for $3 a fill for air. Save a dive? I prep well, so never had a need for that. I carry backup mask straps, drysuit seals, o rings, etc. Bought my drysuit online with their measurement help & info, so that went swell. Vis and hydro I do at the LDS.

Like I have said before, if a local dive club bought a compressor (it's been talked about at meetings) and could do vis/hydro I would have no need for the LDS at all, which would be fine by me.

...alas, talk is cheap. It speak volumes that Fill Express, located in....FLORIDA !!! (where you can't swing a dead cat without hitting a diveable body of water) went out of business!

 

[kr2y5]

A random thought... could dive shops, in certain areas at least, pick up your tanks and deliver them full back to your doorstep (during a specified time window while you're at home), much in the way NetFlix delivers your movies into your mailbox. Driving to a shop can take a lot of time, often worth much more than the gas you're going to get. A full truck of tanks to pick up and drop off all at once can enable major savings. You may have a hard time building a business on a service that's worth $3 per fill, but then, it might be possible to build a business on a service that's based on comfort, time saving, and convenience...

 

[Kairoos]

A random thought... could dive shops, in certain areas at least, pick up your tanks and deliver them full back to your doorstep (during a specified time window while you're at home), much in the way NetFlix delivers your movies into your mailbox. Driving to a shop can take a lot of time, often worth much more than the gas you're going to get. A full truck of tanks to pick up and drop off all at once can enable major savings. You may have a hard time building a business on a service that's worth $3 per fill, but then, it might be possible to build a business on a service that's based on comfort, time saving, and convenience...

I'm not sure that there would be a lot of demand for that, and the shop would probably lose money on days it has to deliver only a few tanks. It's also another employee that has to be paid to drive tanks (that can't be in the shop to help out), maintenance on the truck, etc - it really adds up when your margins are slim.

Where I live (West Palm, FL) it would be a huge PITA because there are so many gated communities.

 

[dshorwich]

At one time there were five dive shops in Monterey, now there are three, and the two that closed up were pre recession. They were larger shops, one was into tech gear and the other was way overpriced and unfriendly.

Actually, there are 4 shops in Monterey these days (Breakwater Scuba, Aquarius, Bamboo Reef, Glenn's).

 

[Eric Sedletzky]

Actually, there are 4 shops in Monterey these days (Breakwater Scuba, Aquarius, Bamboo Reef, Glenn's).

Oh cool.
It's been a while since I've been down there so they must have slipped in since I last did a check.
Good for them!

Just curious, did they take the spot of the old MBDC?

 

[Octopusprime]

An LDS needs to be much more than just a gear supplier these days. The internet does a better job at just plain supply.
In order for a dive shop to offer something that the internet cannot they need to look at the experience the customer gets when they walk in.
Anybody can sit behing a computer and order gear cheaper with no shipping and never leave the house. If you know what you want and know what you're getting then that's fine, but many times people don't exactly know what they are buying. It could be they read it on the internet somewhere to get "this" so they get it.
The LDS needs to educate themselves fully on what is going on out there in gear land so they too can decide whether they want to get involved in some of the things that have become "internet phenomenon". I see too many dive shops that have decided to bury their heads in the sand when it comes to all the new gear that people are trying.
The LDS also needs to understand what the internet cannot provide, and that is connection between other divers face to face, dive outings, gear discussions face to face (talking shop), the good old conversations around the fill station, building interest and excitement about diving in everybody that comes in, and just good old plain making people feel good (making their day).
Too many dive shops have an attitude of "just buy something and get out".
I remember the days when my LDS was a great place that people would just stop in to see what's new. While we were in there we see a shop club dive that was happening and sign up.
The other thing dive shops need to be is full service.
Just because some things may not make the most money or even be a loss, you have to look at the overall picture of those things being a support structure for the things that do make money.
If there are any holes in stock, products, or sevices, then that gives people a reason to go elsewhere including the internet.
People like a one stop shop.
The shops that will make it are the ones who have everything in house and treat everybody like they are valuable.
I don't think the prices are as important as people think. If they can get close I think it would help, but if they make it up in the human experience that you can't get online then they are providing something that the net can't.

Awsome Eric... Great point about the casual conversations... I frequent a couple of LDS and one of them if you wander around you get looked at like your shoplifting... The other 2 it is as comfortable as sitting at a bar with a good friend... There is one dive shop I stop in during the day hours and will chat with owner for an hour... We have worked out a deal I can bring student to his pool if they buy gear he credits me pool time and air fills. We have been building a relationship that is working for both of us. I promote his events and he has hooked me up when I needed multiple small wetsuits for a Boy Scouts discover scuba.

Scuba will grow when dive companies look to partner instead of seeing as everyone as competition.