Dream dive shop

[scubajb]

Great thread and great points! Mine is pretty simple, dive shop staff that understand AND are still passionate about there business. The idea of walking into a shop and leaving more excited than I was when I walked in, that would be fantastic...

 

[=C=]

Heres my list:

Open 7 days, stocking eveything for the 6'3 16 stone diver...

Its a small shop for sure

No:
retractors
split fins
heap plastic accessories
save a dive kits
anything from Trident...

Yes:
Lotsa diaphram regs
Otter boxes
boltsnaps
various smb's
reels
lift bags
dry suits (DUI or Otter)
wetsuits (nothing gimmicky ex. magical gold insides)
Plain old no vent snorkel if I ever want one
LP and HP hoses in various lenghts
Manifolds and bands
Steel and Al tanks is various sizes
Wings from a couple mfg's
Simple BCD
A big board with diving recommendations and travel deals
local diving books
sign-up sheet for the next open boat
compentent instructor on staff
Couple of rebreather books
All the good dive mags
Emergency oxygen kit like the Dan kit
training on how to use it
Compressor with 3 holding tanks
Nitrox ability and sell nitrox cards
one 35w HID for good measure
LED DIR style backup lights
LED head lamps
SELL SERVICE KITS AND MANUALS FOR THE REGS
a very well stocked service bench
spring straps
gshock watches
suunto compasses
Couple of dive computers... including the sol and terra
lots a bungie line and para cord
paint pens
sticky letters
shot weight and bar
Some XLT shirts and size 11 flipflops

 

[battles2a5]

- Haskel, haskel, haskel.
- Big cascades.
- Either banked standard gases or a 2-phase stick w/ quick turnarounds for custom blends.
- A hardware selection that covers all of my needs; snapls, bolts, wing and reg pieces parts, misc. stuff... kind of like Cave Excursions
- A fast boat with bunks
- deep pool

 

[Calle Roo]

Oh and no employees that are women in mid 40's that are on the prowl on every dive trip to score some... They irritate me!

 

[tomboyy]

Heres my list:

Open 7 days, stocking eveything for the 6'3 16 stone diver...

Its a small shop for sure

No:
retractors
split fins
heap plastic accessories
save a dive kits
anything from Trident...

Yes:
Lotsa diaphram regs
Otter boxes
boltsnaps
various smb's
reels
lift bags
dry suits (DUI or Otter)
wetsuits (nothing gimmicky ex. magical gold insides)
Plain old no vent snorkel if I ever want one
LP and HP hoses in various lenghts
Manifolds and bands
Steel and Al tanks is various sizes
Wings from a couple mfg's
Simple BCD
A big board with diving recommendations and travel deals
local diving books
sign-up sheet for the next open boat
compentent instructor on staff
Couple of rebreather books
All the good dive mags
Emergency oxygen kit like the Dan kit
training on how to use it
Compressor with 3 holding tanks
Nitrox ability and sell nitrox cards
one 35w HID for good measure
LED DIR style backup lights
LED head lamps
SELL SERVICE KITS AND MANUALS FOR THE REGS
a very well stocked service bench
spring straps
gshock watches
suunto compasses
Couple of dive computers... including the sol and terra
lots a bungie line and para cord
paint pens
sticky letters
shot weight and bar
Some XLT shirts and size 11 flipflops

Whats a stone weight?

 

[=C=]

Whats a stone weight?

1 stone is equal to US 14 pounds...

and size 11UK is a size 44 in europe... but flipflops generally come marked in US sizes

6'3 is 190.5 cm...

 

[tomboyy]

Oh and no employees that are women in mid 40's that are on the prowl on every dive trip to score some... They irritate me!

Dive shops have these? Which ones?

No... seriously... which ones?

They're called cougars. I've never been bothered by them.. guess they can tell from a mile away that i'm married

P.S. happily(sp?)married

 

[=C=]

yeay cougars!

 

[bleeb]

Hours -- at least for core services like fills and rental returns. Whaddaya mean I have to wait until 10Am on a monday morning to return rental gear from the weekend? Gimme an early drop off then so I can still make it to work. Yeah yeah, I know, not a problem if I own all my own stuff, but sometimes you need something extra...

Hours are probably one of the more noticeable annoyances I've run into, although this would be very dependent on your target market. At home, the times I've rented gear, it's a PITA returning it. Either get to work late on Monday morning, or leave work early Monday afternoon to drop stuff off. Ditto Fridays if I need to pick up something needed early Saturday morning.

One possible partial work-around is some sort of one-way drop box so that you can leave gear when the shop is closed. Useful for both rental returns and people needing tanks filled, especially steel tanks which may take longer to do well. Obviously, this would take some designing, since literally dropping 40 lb tanks or weight belts might be a bit problematic.

Another variant on this might be secure outside lockers with combination locks, which could be used for both pickup or drop-off. Preferably, be able to change the combination every time (or for every customer). Down sides include options being more limited if there are any problems with gear being picked up, or analyzing and signing for non-air tank fills.

 

[Jim Lapenta]

Oh and no employees that are women in mid 40's that are on the prowl on every dive trip to score some... They irritate me!

Really? Where can I find them? I'll do my best to keep em away from you. That's a new category I believe. Urban Cougar Divers! Do you have any pics of em?