Dream dive shop

[LowVizWiz]

This is a great question and I agree with most of the answers too. I think the dive cougars would be consider a "feature" in most dive circles!

A deeper than 10' indoor pool is a must have! I'm 6'5" I hate doing skills in the deep end of a 4' foot resort pool and schlepping gear to and from them too.

I'm also wondering how much more would we be willing to pay to have such Dream dive shop! I mean a shop that keeps a bunch of inventory at competitive prices would most likely not have great staff that's knowledgeable.

We have one retail store chain here that looks like a dream shop with tons of gear, well lit, very clean, nice class rooms and a near by training facility in a lake, but don't try to get your questions answered there! You have to know who to ask in the store if you really want the right answer. Not a ton of people willing to work for 10$ an hour specially those with a lot of experience or well trained service technicians.

How about fills? The avg. price for air here is about $5 EANx is $8 I'd love to get a drive by fill, but I'm not sure I want to pay more for it

I realize this is a dream, but I also do this with my real life dreams too

Wiz

 

[Tigerman]

My "dream dive shop"?

1. A huge inventory so I can actually use my hands to look at stuff.
2. A webshop so I can order stuff online if I know what I want.
3. Proximity. The closest one to me atm is like 150 km away. (This will never be fullfilled at my current location)
4. A pool and a selection of "test gear" that I can try before buying.
5. Active diving employees that love diving as much as the customers.
6. Time to browse in peace without any "pressure to purchase" whatever im looking at.
7. Open 24/7 so I can get my tanks filled or look at gear anytime Id like (yeah, rite).

Oh yeah.. and it need to be cheap, preferrably free. Hahahaha

 

[Nemrod]

A store that had a huge inventory with knowledgeable people who are friendly and support a web store that puts what ever I want in my hands pronto, hey, wait, that is Scuba Toys.


N

 

[mike_s]

I. And my IDEAL shop would have what my current shop has -- an "all you can eat" pricing for fills. I pay a set fee for a year's Nitrox, and I really, truly love that. And of course, my ideal shop would offer Nitrox and do helium fills, too. (And mine does.)

I'd like to see that in my shop also.... I used to would have benefitted from it in the past.

The problem is that if a shop tries to help the customer with "unlimited fills" for a set price, you'll see people cheating the system somehow to get a free fill. Like borrowing their buddies tank and or tank sharing. Maybe there is a way to overcome that though... Punched air fill cars are one way...

And the little stuff -- It would have someplace to sit. Divers like to hang and talk, especially while waiting for fills and such, and I have yet to be in a shop that had a bench or anyplace you could plant your rear end while waiting! .

A decent cup of coffee and a couple of good armchairs and couches. To talk diving, of course.

I've always thought it would be great to have a coffee pot and a couch at our LDS, but I can see that as a negative first impression to have a bunch of guys slumbering on the couch when new customers come in. Or it could distract from sales from other customers... Of course it could add to sales also. I'd be interested to hear from other LDS operators to see their ideas on this.

[*]Drive-up fills, preferrably covered. Let me back up under an awning and filll without having to schlep tanks in and out of the shop

besides bigger dive local's such as south Florida, is there really a need for this?

A library of dive books for local dives is handy. People will pop in an inevitably end up buying the book anyway

I asked this of our LDS and while they do stock books, they can't order them from dive gear distributators for a decent prize and don't sell enough of them to make it worthwhile besides the normal "favorites". Amazon just has them beat in the printed non-agency book category.

I think you should have a 25 passenger bus to take them on trips.

.

That'd be nice.... and I wish our LDS could/'would do that, but we've already got folks whinning that a LDS trip costs a few bucks more than what they think they can do it on their own. Itemize the cost of a bus in the trip and then we'd have everyone arguing about what time the bus leaves as half the people want to go down early and the other half has to wait to go late after work....

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!

[/QUOTE]




Here's some things I'd want to see:


1.) Clean and organized. If your shop is a complete mess and filthy, that doesn't reflect good on any other service you sell.

2.) Good employees that know the product and are helpful but don't have that "dive shop attitude" ego to go with it.

3.) Website with ALL your products on it. Nice to be able to see what the store has or find new stuff before driving down to the store to purchase.

4.) Your LDS is not the daycare center for your employees kids. (we had this problem at a past/closed LDS. Their wild kids would run you out of the place).

5.) PUT PRICES ON THE STUFF YOU SELL. I've been to many dive shops that don't put prices on stuff and you have to ask the price. One of our old (now closed) LDS's did this and he would often tell you different prices if you asked him again in 2 weeks.

6.) A pool would be nice, but fewer and fewer shops have them due to cost and insurance issues.

7.) Work with the customer on price. They might not be able to sell for grey market prices, but don't sit there and tell me that the manufacturer won't let you sell it for less than MSRP.

I'm sure there are more...

 

[vladimir]

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

I agree. In an ideal world, the female employees on the prowl would be in their mid-20s.

 

[Tigerman]

I agree. In an ideal world, the female employees on the prowl would be in their mid-20s.

And smokin hot ofc...

 

[daniel f aleman]

A store that had a huge inventory with knowledgeable people who are friendly and support a web store that puts what ever I want in my hands pronto, hey, wait, that is Scuba Toys.


N

Yep.

Fill Express too. But, those stores are sorta' unique because they have such an internet presence. What I like are to visit the old school shops like Laguna Sea Sports, Chuck and Robbie's, Bruno's Dive Shop, Dive Outpost, Duggan's, Aaron's Dive Shop, MBT Diver's, Protec, Dan's Dive Shop, Outer Banks Dive Center, etc. I love the smell of old neoprene...

 

[AtomicZ]

Stock all sorts of equipment and don't just have ScubaPro or Aqua Lung stuff. I like a selection to find what I truly like. If the store has poor selection, I refuse to buy on principle. Also, you have to have the best prices. The whole value added spiel is complete BS in my opinion. If I buy from a LDS and then move, my new dive shop will be servicing it. So, if I buy on the internet from an authorized dealer at a better price, there is really no difference. That said, set the best prices and price match. Training wise, I woulf offer both PADI and SSI or NAUI. That gives people the option of agencies although it really comes down to the instructor. Many people bash PADI, so that will give any potential customers relief in that area! Finally, sponsor a local club and have a membership program with incredible benefits (free air fills etc).