With the industry still moving through Covid we want you to see how dive retail is doing this year. This survey compares retail this year to business in 2019, before the pandemic hit. The year 2019 is also a good…
Mark YoungOctober 27, 2021
Our trade association is having a tough go this year. DEMA’s annual show, which is their primary source of revenue and what many members see as the most obvious reason to belong, was canceled last year. If COVID had dissipated…
Mark YoungOctober 26, 2021
The most important number in this business is your student count. Obviously students wind up providing much of your income, but that's not why. It's because they become multipliers. Most people come into scuba because a friend or relative got…
Mark YoungOctober 8, 2021
Back when I ran a retail chain we spent an awful lot of time trying to figure out why store A did well, while store C did not. We knew that the answer held the key. The frustration was that…
Mark YoungAugust 22, 2021
My Mom lives in Florida, and I took the opportunity after the last DEMA show to visit her for a few days. At 83 she's "a trip," and with every visit my appreciation for her grows with the realization that…
Mark YoungAugust 18, 2021
There probably are very few manufacturers, distributors or retailers who don’t aim their product’s pricing toward some target margin. Margins are a benchmark for profitability. A retailer might strive for a 50 percent gross profit (GP) on product sales knowing…
Mark YoungMay 4, 2021
About the Survey Trends Dive retail was hit hard by COVID, and for the last few months DCB has conducted surveys to help determine the extent and provide retailers a gauge for how you have been doing during the pandemic.…
Mark YoungSeptember 23, 2020
Dive retailers create most of the dive industry's customers and much of the industry's business connects there, so the health of dive retail is vitally important. This industry has few published economic gauges, including no reliable way to know how…
Mark YoungMarch 25, 2020
2019 will go down as another good year for the economy, for consumer and business confidence, the markets and for overall consumer spending. Although general retail is still strong, the growth slowed from the previous two years. Excluding gasoline and…
Mark YoungJanuary 28, 2020
