Just Lost our Last Dive Shop

[drdaddy]

Shed a little tear this Monday morning. Just got an email from Cajun Divers, our one and only dive shop here in Lafayette, LA. The owner has closed his storefront. It's the poor economy. He will still go around giving lessons and some preventative maintenance. But as a functioning dive shop, it's over. This is a city with a population of over 150,000 and we have no dive shop. Thanks Cajun Divers for your 13 years. I will miss you.

I'm really sorry to hear that you lost your LDS. A short time ago I traveled to Monroe, Louisiana with my daughter's father-in-law, who has become my real buddy. I wanted to buy PADI's Diving Encyclopedia to read on the plane back home to Oregon. I was very pleasantly surprised to find a shop (and the DE) so far from the sea (but not far from water - as all of Louisiana is a swamp )!!!

I can't imagine what so many divers are going to do without their LDS. I do hope you can still get air from his house and, who knows, maintain some kind of LDS around his house or a club.

 

[scubadobadoo]

"Here’s what the mail order guys would prefer you didn’t know:

* Reputable manufacturers do not allow their products to be sold over the internet. When you see a name-brand item advertised at a suspiciously low price, it’s either: a gray market item brought in from overseas; a used item in what appears to be new packaging; or, stolen merchandise. The serial numbers will be missing and some of the parts may be replaced with used or cheaper components.


* Regardless of where the mail-order came from, it will not qualify for warranty coverage. This means you will pay up to $120.00 or more in additional charges every time you need service…. and, if the item is ever subject to a manufacturer’s recall, you won’t find out about or qualify for the free repair/fix. Do you really want to dive with a BCD, dive computer or regulator that has been recalled for a safety related problem?


* The cheapest BCD, regulator or dive computer won’t save you a penny if it’s not what you really need/want and you end up replacing it later. You save the most money when you get expert advice and buy the right thing the first time around. "



The above was copy and pasted from the deceased business. It was the shops priority statement to all new visitors at the top of their equipment page. The above statement should be IMHO a primer on how to run your LDS into the ground. Nobody wants to see a person do poorly for heaven's sake but when will small LDS's stop buying this crap from Mans like Scuba Pro?

 

[OldNSalty]

Only the last statement is true, the first 2 are BS...some people shouldn't be in business IMO.

 

[jasoninbtr]

Sorry to hear the only shop left in Lafayette is closed. Somehow we are able to support four shops in the Baton Rouge metro area.

One thing I have found missing is some sort of dive club in South Louisiana. I know of Hell Divers....was just looking for something more dive and less hunt related. If I am missing it, please let me know.

Jason

 

[mike_s]

He just closed the store front. I'm sure the compressor will be running at home.

If I ran a LDS, the last thing I'd want is customers coming to my house wanting an air fill for $5 bucks.

That wont' last long as he'll have people calling Friday at 10pm asking if they can come by saturday morning at 6am to get a fill before they go out to dive.

What a shame....a town of 150,000 with not one dive shop left. Brace yourself folks. This winter is going to be brutal on dive stores. I wish them all the best of fortunes.

Phil Ellis
Discount Scuba Gear at DiveSports.com - Buy Scuba Diving Equipment & Snorkeling Equipment

I just hope it doesn't hit shops in little towns say 50,000 people!

Yes it is a shame when a LDS closes down. The economy is certainly a factor, however, some of these shops could take a lessons or two from Dive Sports, Scuba Toys, LP, and Dive Gear Express and get off this silly ride to extinction and do business over the web. I do not know Andy or any of his work mates, but when I see a statement such as he makes on this page:
http://www.cajundivers.com/equipment.htm I cannot help but believe he has contributed to his own demise.

Good luck to you fine folks in Lafayette,

Couv

I actually kinda thought the same thing earlier.

after reading his web page, you confirmed it.


he was working with an outdated business model trying to stay afloat on things that worked 10-20 years ago. Times change. You have to change with them but get left behind.

I sat in on a dealer meeting once for a well known manufacturer. Grey market was the term used for equipment that "came back from Europe, or was sold by a dive shop going out of business", meaning that the distressed shop was dumping product on the Grey Market. Does that mean Europeans that buy dive gear don't get a warranty? Or else there were a LOT of dive shops that went out of business about 7 years ago....

That's just what the manufacturers want you to believe. that all that grey market gear came from "europe" or some LDS going out of business is a lie created by them to cover direct shipments.

Ever been to a LDS "going out of business sale"? Most of them have been struggling for years to make ends meet and don't have SQUAT in inventory.

I went to a LDS going out of business sale a few weeks ago. he didn't even have any regulators in stock and only had a couple of used BC's. The only other stuff he had in his store were a few accessories, t-shirts, some setsuits and a bunch of small sized booties. I don't think he had enough in the shop to even outfit one diver with a complete set of starter gear.

The fact that manufacturers say this is all coming from these going out of business LDS's is just white-wash.

It's just "cover" for direct shipments that they'll never admit to.

 

[greghidalgo]

Good News, Divers Destination is opening in Cajun Divers spot. They should be opened within the month

 

[SCUBASailor]

Sorry to hear the only shop left in Lafayette is closed. Somehow we are able to support four shops in the Baton Rouge metro area.

One thing I have found missing is some sort of dive club in South Louisiana. I know of Hell Divers....was just looking for something more dive and less hunt related. If I am missing it, please let me know.

Jason

I asked Andy at Cajun Divers about the existence of any dive clubs around Lafayette when I took the OW class. He said he tried to start one a few years ago, but could not generate enough interest to get one going. :depressed:

 

[greghidalgo]

Divers Destination is going to open in the old Cajun Divers location this month

 

[greghidalgo]

Divers Destination is going to open in the old Cajun Divers location later this month

 

[waynel]

Thanks for all the comments. I haven't been able to check my post for a couple of weeks because I, too, am trying to keep a small business open. Folks, it's not just dive shops that are suffering, it's all small businesses.

As for buying on the internet, yes some things I can buy, but I can't buy a mask unless I can try it on. Additionally, I have received wrong shipments one week before a dive trip. I had to eat a wrist computer because the manufacturer was in Italy but the supplier was in New York and no one wanted to talk about honoring the warantee (for months). Cajun Divers sold quality gear, honored warantees immediately, I always walked out of there knowing everything fit and was correct. Lastly...and I don't know how you put a price tage on this...I knew the people I was doing business with. It was like the baber shop, a place you could hang out with other divers when not diving. I'm just a sentimental sap I quess. I can't imagine what our communities will look like when we buy everything over the internet. It's a bigger impact than Walmart closing down so many Mom & Pop stores.

Good news about Divers Destination opening. I do stop by their store in Key Largo every summer.