Another LDS Out of Business

[FishNut]

Did I read that right? Peace is out of buisiness? I was just in there last week. They are servicing my Wifes reg.

They are still going to be open for things untill Nov. 30th that is their last day. But the Boat will keep running

 

[PhotoTJ]

I haven't been to that store in awhile, where did they find room to put in a pool? Did they build a THIRD building?

They tore down all the old buildings and put in a new complex.

 

[*mad_professor*]

For now. Don't be surprised if SC drops or very deeply cuts their Scuba sections. In addition to diminishing return on the inventory and floor space, they have rising insurance and liability costs. I was in my local SC store and wandered through the dept, and the wetsuit racks were bare, and the number of gear bag choices were about 1/2 normal. I doubt it was because of a huge push for the beginning of Lobster Season.

SC is seasonal......now that Summer has passed, they will focus on Snowboarding and Skiing. June is Scuba month for SC so look for the inventory to build up in late April and May to prepare for the summer. At least, that is how it's been done in past years. They to have been losing money and their stock price has been falling. They lost 4.5 million thier first quarter of FY09 and their sales are down 11.1% in stores open for one year or more.

The economy is killing everyone!

 

[JMdiver]

They biult a new biulding across the street.

John

 

[VoodooGas]

Hey Gang......I don't post much....but due to the doom and gloom of this posting I figured I should chime up. Scuba Schools of America, Montclair and Newport Beach are both going strong. We still have the largest active dive club in the United States with over 3000 active members. We have over twenty boat trips a month and the only lounge in the nation built just for our Club Aquarius members.

Currently....twenty four of our Club Aquarius members are in the Philippines diving....infact...that is where I am writing to you today from. Last weekend we had three boat trips aboard the Pacific Star, the Psalty V, and the Second Stage.

So....just to let everyone know.....there are still stores in Southern California that are still doing what they have done for years......teaching diving and taking divers diving.....Have a Great One!

 

[masterdiverzen]

Liburdis did not pay rent at the camp for almost 2 years. With rent being 15,000.00 per month it was alot easier to not pay. All is not lost- great lds's still exist and are flourishing. Try Openwater Habitat off the 5 freeway. Very friendly, extremely knowlegable and in the middle of O.C. They seem to have a ton of stock and do all service work including hydrostatic testing in the shop

 

[merxlin]

Liburdis did not pay rent at the camp for almost 2 years. With rent being 15,000.00 per month it was alot easier to not pay. All is not lost- great lds's still exist and are flourishing. Try Openwater Habitat off the 5 freeway. Very friendly, extremely knowlegable and in the middle of O.C. They seem to have a ton of stock and do all service work including hydrostatic testing in the shop

I sure hope there are facts to back a statement like that up.......if not, that's a little libelous. Also a bit skeptical since this is your first post.

 

[Sam Miller III]

Quote "Liburdis did not pay rent at the camp for almost 2 years. With rent being 15,000.00 per month it was alot easier to not pay."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I recall a fellow on national TV say "Get real!"

$15,000.00 month X 12=$180,000.00 a year
2 years at $180,000.00 =$360,000.00.

That is a big hunk of change!
It can not be denied that Joe had a great location in OC--but not a $180 thousand a year location. No reasonable and prudent landlord would allow a lease or monthly rental to acquire a 90 day negativity, and certainly not 24 months negative, especially at the rate quoted.

It is suggested that you recheck your source and re-post more realistic amount (s)
sdm

 

[White Knight]

That's too bad. With the current economy and the ease of the internet, I don't expect things to get much better for our local dive shops anytime soon. I just hope as many of them can hang on as possible.

 

[Eric Sedletzky]

There's a lot of things at play here with why all these dive shops are failing.

High rents in California and greedy landlords.
Inability or unwillingness for most of these shops to carry the gear more advanced divers move into.
Inability or unwillingness for dive shops to drop prices to compete with internet stores and go for volume sales instead of high priced once in a while sales. The economy has to be in pristine shape for people not to care and pay full bore for something they could get for almost half off the internet.
The diving public is not growing at the rate that small LDS's need to stay alive.
There has not been any TV shows or movies related to diving in a long time so there's nothing to spark the imaginations of millions of young americans to get into diving.

The shops might have been able to exist barely with the old archaic business model that they use when times were good but all it takes is a little decline and there's no room to ride out a slump. Combine this with an unlevel playing field from the internet and shops go out of business.

I think the core problem is the astronomical rents they pay. It seems like internet stores are mostly back east where property is cheap so their overhead is much lower.