Loose thoughts by Bjorn Landfeldt
So, I finally got to go to New York and visited Leisurepro's shop. It is tucked away on top of ADORAMA photography run by the same owners. After one has been shopping for dive gear on their web site for a while, and experienced the massive range of gear they carry, the shop is somewhat of an anti-climax. I fully understand that real estate on mid - lower Manhattan is pretty expensive contrary to the impression Macy's gives. But, the 40 or so sqare meters of Leisurepro shopping experience is pretty dismal. In the shop itself there is nothing to look at apart from a handfull of items so one has to be prepared when going there. The idea is to shop on the web first, and print out a list of items to look at. Presenting the list to the staff and the stuff comes up from the basement if it is in stock. Then you can see the things you are interested in up close.
So, what's the verdict?
Leisurepro serves a purpose, cheap prices for gear when one knows what to get. However, the shopping experience is far from satisfactory, if one wants some advice or just to browse this is not the place, there are many dive shops that do a much better job at this. I guess you can't have everything.
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2 comments:
Well, I own a shop in Sidney, BC. and I can say that as much as I used to love leisure pro from a Yellowknife diving standpoint, about 2300 miles from the closest shop in edmonton, alberta, I am quite pround of the fact that we have created a comfortable shop where customers can come in and try anything on the wall. We cannot give the deals Leisure Pro does, however we can service everything we sell, we are certified to sell by the distributors. I am not for or against Leisure Pro, it sure keeps us on our toes, however there is an enjoyment to being a shop junky, it's a much more comfortable way to shop.
Mate, I was in Vancouver a couple of weeks ago. I really wanted to go diving but didn't have the time so I went for a quick drive to Whistler instead.
Funny, I have a couple of visiting academics to my University and last Friday at the pub they were talking about this fantastic dive shop in Manitoba, basically a huge garage where the point is that everything is on display on the walls and floor. I guess this is the antithesis of Leisurepro, the shopping experience...
Here in Sydney we don't have either. All shops are quite small (I guess operational margins are not that good and real estate costs) and you can seldom try things out since everything is out of stock or your size is not in the shop etc. I fully understand the restrictions running a business imposes on the ability to carry lots of gear in the shop but it really is a shame for the consuer that wants to browse and get inspired to spend.
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