A Question For You: Would you buy a snowboard direction over the internet? Tell us why or why not.

Absolute Soul's founder Glenn Cogan is taking his enterprise where no snowboard manufacturer has gone before.

Cogan founded Absolute Soul in 1993. Despite the fact that he spent unfathomable amounts of money on advertising and following what he saw as the industry's protocol to establishing the company on the retail level, he was unable to get the success that he wanted. Cogan led the company in a new direction after the SnowSports Industries America trade show in Las Vegas this past spring.

"I believed that the only solution left to ensure our success was going factory direct," he said. "It's the only uncharted and quite possibly untouchable territory left in snowboard selling," Cogan said from his Salt Lake City, Utah offices.

"Three years ago, we would have been labeled as sell-outs for doing this. Now, every time you turn on the TV you see another company going factory direct - It's the right time. The future is here," he said.

Absolute Soul sells wakeboards, snowboards, bindings and softgoods by telephone, the Internet and through catalogs. Customers are treated to a complete inventory of American-made goods and if they choose to point, click and commit, their purchase is backed by a one-year warranty and a 30-day money back guarantee. It's a fact, Cogan said, that buying factory direct will save consumers an average of 54 percent ($450), for a full set up (boots, bindings, clothing and deck).

So, what does he do with the wheelbarrows of retailer-generated hate mail, you ask? "I've only gotten one letter from a semi-disgruntled retailer," he said. "If they order from us, they will pay when our product gets to their shop - no terms."

"And if they have a problem with that, then they're out and we go ahead and sell direct to the guy who lives down the street from them. If they buy from us, we won't compete with them," he said.

This is a bold step to take during a brutal time in the industry. The number of snowboard manufacturers is expected to continue careening, retailers are guarding their dollars and factories are aggressively seeking OEM clients just to stay afloat. Cogan attributes this hardship to bad business practices on the part of the manufacturers and a no-show of loyalty on the part of the retailers.

"I love this industry, it's a sport of freedom, individuality and expression. Unfortunately, the retailers are making it more and more unattractive," he said. "Now, it's a sport of few choices, limited selection and poor service."

But Cogan doesn't blame the retailers for that. "Retailers are as concerned about their success as we are and it's foolish for us to assume that they would think of carrying anything other than the top five or maybe 10 brands in stores."

Absolute Soul was positioned to deliver at least 1.5-million in product to over 100 retailers and eight distributors this season, Cogan said. But, he knew that he wouldn't see that money for two years. While taking product out of stores can prevent customers from getting to see it up close, Cogan isn't worried about reaching his customers.

With the money that he'll save by backing out of the trade shows and trade publications, he plans to bring the goods to the people via demos.

"In just two months, we have built up a mailing list of more then 18,000 snowboarders nation-wide that have shown an interest in buying factory direct," he said. "Right now, if I punch Colorado in the computer, I can pull up at least 2000 names and let them know that we're coming to town. The on-hill and water demos are our answer to the 'see it, try it, buy it' SIA-approach."

This year's sales will be the measure of success. Absolute Soul's wakeboard division served as a sort of test market for its snowboarding segment. After setting up the factory-direct business in June.

"We're in transition now between summer and winter and we're requests each day," he said.

Cogan said that he views his choice as the only way to get a piece of the growth projected for the sport. "This industry will still grow 30 percent this year. There are approximately 10 million snowboarders world-wide," he said. "Retailers are stifling this growth and it would grow much more rapidly if we gave the consumers more choices."

The factory direct selling idea hit Cogan after an unsuccessful attempt at forging a manufacturing agreement with Marker's snowboard factory. The Marker executive told Cogan that he needed to come up with a niche for his company to survive the current state of the industry. "My first thought was, 'how am I going to tell my employees that they no longer had jobs,'" he said. "Very quickly after that thought the factory-direct idea came to my mind. It's obvious that we had to go in this direction.

There is no successful case study for Cogan to follow. He knows that there are many eyes on his company's success with the factory-direct venture and he's sure that there will be competition in the near future.

"To be successful, you've got to be first, but to be first, you've got to endure all of the challenges and survive all of the criticism," Cogan said. "This is just my way of saving our soul."

A Question For You: Would you buy a snowboard direction over the internet? Tell us why or why not.