Dwindling Dive Stores

As most divers know, the number of full-service dive stores in the U.S. gets smaller each year. The internet businesses have had an impact on them, as they have on all retail stores

Infrequent divers are buying less equipment, preferring to rent it on tropical vacations. Many foreign dive resorts, which once only offered free-flowing regulators and threadbare BCs, have recognized the value of renting well-maintained gear, which has changed divers' attitudes toward buying gear. And besides, who likes to tote heavy gear through airports?

Finally, fewer people, at least in the U.S., are getting certified, reducing the number of dive store customers.

That said, the drop in the number of full-service dive stores -- defined as those with a retail storefront, an onsite compressor, and full line of equipment, sales, and training -- is not as disturbing as one might believe.

Mark Young, the editor of the magazine Dive Center Business, told Undercurrent that at the end of 2017, there were 1,307 full-service dive stores, 399 fewer than in 1999.

The net loss between 2013 and 2017 was 183, which includes the 2016 loss of 55 Sport Chalet stores that sold scuba.

In 2017, 56 closed, but 33 new stores opened, for a net loss of 23. That's the lowest number of closures in nearly 20 years.

-- Ben Davison