Speedos getting harder to buy
 

Has anyone noticed the decline in shops selling speedos and swim briefs? Years back you would be spoilt for choice of stores to buy them but even a lot of sports stores dont sell them. Theres barely a few shops now i can pick up a pair

but there has been a huge increase in on line outlets. Some guys would find buying a garment as skimpy as a Speedo to be a bit embarrassing to purchase. The idea of making the purchase on line solves the problem.

I assume your commenting on their reduced popularity rather than availability.
I think in the Anglosphere (mainly North America, Britain and Australia) wearing a brief in public has been slowly evolving into an exclusively female activity since the turn of the century.

speedos on the rise
 

I've actually noticed that speedos are becoming more popular than jammers for boys high school swim teams.

That's good to hear. Jammers look and feel just plain weird and they are especially annoying for swimming and not any better for dry land athletics.

Interestingly, 1980s vintage short shorts are still the norm for cross country running. :D

One of the pools I go to also has high school swimmers and this year they are more into briefs than jammers I would say. Especially the older boys in the 14+ category where they are pretty much 100% briefs now and last year it was closer to 50/50.

Briefs are cheaper and much more comfortable.

Not scientific by any means but that is what I noticed.
Anyway I am happy they are doing sports.

The other pool I go to is more of the jammer type.

I remember reading last year about a declining rate of young people getting into competitive swimming. (Article referred to the United States but I suspect a similar trend, at least in what was referred to above as the anglosphere.

The article was non-scientific but the writer theorized that it was due to issues with body-consciousness. The writer discussed alot of ways the body issues young women face make them disinclined to wear a swimsuit. Didnt go into depth with young men; is a funny omission given that I expect the average young man is more nervous about wearing a speedo than a woman would be wearing a one-piece suit.

Some teams the guys wear tights for cross country as well.

Unfortunately, true.
Go into a big box sporting goods store and consider yourself lucky if they sell any briefs. If they do, you get a choice of navy blue or black.

Contrast that with the 1980s, when Speedo had stores in most major shopping malls. You could easily max out a credit card without making a dent in their inventory.

Speedos need to fit perfectly, so online shopping isn’t a viable alternative to hitting a local store. Fortunately my city has a wonderful swim shop with a good selection.

Ever tried running in longer shorts? Friction from chafing can be a major concern, so runners never adopted the long shorts popularized by basketball players. The only long shorts runners like are the jammer-length spandex ones or - in cold weather - full length tights.

There was one basketball player who had knobby knees and thin legs, so he was the first to wear shorts below the knee.

I find it a massive turn on especially if the girl behind the counter is hot 😍😍😍

No wonder stores stopped selling them.

Freedom of leg movement is absolutely essential and anything below mid-thigh is no good for anything athletic. As for swimming, I want something that acts as a "supporter" but otherwise minimal coverage is the only way to go.

The primary issue is that the "big box" sporting goods stores are dropping like flies. Done in by online sellers. Sports Authority had a great selection of athletic swimsuits, and they're recently gone.

A shame, since fit is critical, and different brands aren't sized the same. For instance, a Nike 34 is two inches larger than a Speedo 34.

Where to buy
 

Here in Melbourne Australia there are Speedo stores in some of the major shopping centres, and the major sporting shops sell swim briefs. There is also a chain of swimwear shops that has about 5% of the shop as men's swimwear, of which 1/4 is briefs. The problem I have is that all these retailers seem to sell black and navy briefs almost exclusively, so if you want something else the options are far more limited. The up-market department stores used to have a good range of swim briefs, but now they only seem to stock black and navy Speedo brand briefs. Daily Jocks has a shopfront in Melbourne, which I visit now and then. It seems though that the available briefs are headed in two directions - as boring as possible, or as exhibitionist as possible. There are few exceptions to these extremes, with briefs that are (in my opinion) comfortable, classy, suitable for wearing in any public situation, and not boring.

I haven't noticed sporting goods stores closing around here. I was in Big 5 yesterday and they had a full rack of speedo type suits. Of course I live in a place where swimming is pretty much all year. Perhaps stores in colder areas remove the swimwear to use the space for winter clothes.
After reading about the difference between Speedo and Nike I went and compared mine. Both identical. Perhaps one of yours was miss marked. I have learned to check the company's size charts before buying. What some companies consider a small is a medium with others. Checking the inches is important. Of course if you have the nerve to order out of China it is a flat out game of chance that something with fit. I saw one the other day that listed a 29" waist as a XXL!
Also, the have a strange habit of measuring the width of the suit laying flat and post the side to side length -- not the circumference.
I do agree that the internet has screwed up shopping. I think if I go in a store one more time and the clerk says "we are out of that in the store, you can get it on line" I'm gonna punch him!!! I want or need it now, thus my reason for visiting the store. If I wanted it sometime in the future I would have stayed home and gone on line. It used to be that Amazon Prime got it there the next day but lately it is more like 2 or 3 days. Since they have their own truck and deliver they can't blame the delivery company.
Shopping was more fun and resulted in a lot of not needed swimwear. Something about touching the material and seeing the colors was a kind of drug that had me at the sales counter. I do enjoy the models on line but in reality, what will it look like on a body that isn't in a gym 6 hours a day.