PerroneFord:It's not that simple.
The shops here that cater to cave divers tend to be very small, and as such, generally only carry one brand of suit. Normally Dive Rite or DUI. One shop in my town has a TLS350, that's been there for years. They do ZERO to talk to people about it, no one in the shop dives dry, etc. The other shop carries Pinnacle, and recently got in a nice new Pinnacle suit. I don't know how much they are pushing the suit, but that shop really doesn't cater a lot to cave divers.
The only way this is going to work is by the manufacters getting their product in front of divers by positioning the product at shops where their potential customers look for goods.
I am headed to the DUI Dog Days in November. That is an EXCELLENT way to get your gear out in front of people, but expensive the way DUI do it. Smaller manufacters could partner with shops by sending them loaner gear for a weekend to let people touch/feel the product, offering a few raffle based products to get some foot traffic, and the shop anteing up a free drysuit course for purchasers.
The Manufacter is out a dozen suits for a week (shipping back and forth) and maybe a raffle gift or two. The shop gets in a bunch of foot traffic, gets to push product, perhaps sells a suit or two, and has some nice comraderie in the community. The consumer gets some touch/feel time, gets questions answered, and gets to peruse around with other divers for an hour or two.
Toss in a Bar-B-Q or pizza vendor, and things begin to look pretty rosy for all parties involved. Whole deal could be pulled off for under $1k if done right. You couldn't get a 2" magazine ad for that.
Thanks Perrone, I agree with you 200%, I have said as much myself many times.