It Stands Apart

There are few dive retailers who don’t wonder what it would be like to have their own, stand-alone dive center, with a pool and classrooms on premises. As Rick can tell you, there are a number of benefits, including:

You are your own landlord — one who never raises the rent or complains about what you do on premises.
There is always plenty of parking for customers.
You never have to worry about the availability of pool time, or the hassles of transporting equipment to and from the pool.
Classes can take place whenever it’s convenient for the customer — whether it’s one or a dozen.

As consumers become more pressed for time, the ability to schedule classes at the customer’s convenience becomes increasingly important. One Maryland dive store owner I visited recently told me the only pool time he could get was 90 minutes every Wednesday evening. What this meant is that, if a customer misses the start of one class, he or she might have to wait five weeks for the next one.

Few people are willing to wait that long — or sign up for any class that lasts longer than a week or two, or takes place on anything other than a Saturday or Sunday.

I can only imagine how many students the Maryland store I visited loses to dive centers in neighboring counties, resort dive operations or other recreational activities. This is something Rick has not had to worry about since he moved into his present location in 1985. (Rick’s has been in business since 1978; however, Rick says that there were a lot of lessons he needed to learn before he felt ready to build his own facility.)

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How Realistic?

Owning your own building is not without its drawbacks. Chief among them is cost. It’s important to note that most stand-alone dive centers in the USA are located in small- to medium-size markets such as North Little Rock. Here commercial property values tend to be substantially lower than they are in larger metropolitan areas.

It’s also important to note that many of the country’s successful stand-alone dive centers were built during the 1980s, when property values were even lower than they are now. Thus, your desire to own the ultimate fantasy dive store may have to be tempered by the realities of where you are located.

Nevertheless, there are a lot of factors in Rick’s success that have nothing to do with the fact he owns his own building. These are things any retailer can emulate.

Let’s take a tour »

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