Consolidated Skateboards has launched a line of shoes, Consolidated Footwear, to represent their Don’t Do It campaign, aimed at the movement to put the power back into the hands of those that built the action sports industry-namely, the participants themselves.

According to the company's release, “This aptly comes as a time when large sporting goods companies, who had been sitting on the sidelines quietly, watching this industry grow, are now coming in with the intentions to take substantial market share away from those that built this industry.

“With sporting goods companies like Nike, Adidas, and Reebok, among others, now making such a strong push into the board sports industry, Consolidated feels the urgency to take action more than ever.”

As Steve “Birdo” Guisinger states, “There is a reason there are no football, basketball, baseball, or soccer player-owned companies…and there should be. Don’t let this happen to surf, skate, and snow. Your decisions shape the future and we encourage you to be conscious of what you support.”

This footwear line comes on the heels of the company's introduction of “The Level Playing Field.” The crux of this theory questions volume discounting given to the corporate mall and sporting goods chains, which comes at the expense of the smaller, “Mom and Pop” shops, which are the backbone of this industry. Consolidated feels the pricing structure is backwards, and that by putting “too many eggs in one basket,” manufacturers are forfeiting control of their distribution to the retail sector. Consolidated argues the need to break out of this paradigm in order to foster a healthier, more competitive distribution channel, as well as to help out the core board shops.

To help compete against these corporate mall and sporting goods chains, Consolidated encourages skateboarders to start their own shop, even if it’s out of their own garage or trunk of a car. They have a link posted on their site to help facilitate this process.