Espial Review and Profile

Espial no longer appears to be active as a direct sales company.

Espial was active through much of the 1990s, but it is no longer operating as a direct-selling company. Espial continued operating during the later 1990s but ultimately ceased business without a widely reported acquisition or formal regulatory shutdown. LeRoy Cox subsequently became associated with BioGreen Systems, another environmentally focused direct-selling business

Original Npros business profile for Espial, preserved below for archival purposes:

Espial Inc. was a Colorado-based network-marketing company founded in 1989 and headquartered in Englewood. Contemporary industry materials identified LeRoy Cox, a former Melaleuca sales and training executive, as the company's founder and president. Better Business Bureau records independently date the start of the business to July 31, 1989, and list Espial Inc. and Espial USA Ltd. as alternate business names. A distributor-prepared company comparison published in 1993 estimated that Espial had approximately 10,000 distributors at the end of 1992, although the company did not publicly disclose its sales revenue.

Espial marketed environmentally oriented household, personal-care, and nutritional products. Its product line included pure Australian tea tree oil, tea-tree-oil-based skin and personal-care products, nutritional supplements, weight-management shakes and food-enzyme products, and citrus-based household cleaners. The company promoted its products as environmentally responsible and emphasized differences such as its approach to dyes and animal testing.

The company called its sales system "Direct Line Marketing." Customers and distributors ordered directly from Espial, which handled product fulfillment and calculated commissions. A 1993 compensation-plan comparison listed a $25 enrollment fee, a 40% retail commission, and advancement through ranks including Associate, Consultant, Manager, Supervisor, and Director. Consultant qualification required more than $125 in personal purchase volume, while Manager and higher ranks required at least $75 in monthly purchases. Compensation included personal retail profit, bonuses based on personal and group purchase volume, and executive pools for upper-level leaders.

In 1994, Espial introduced a catalog-based preferred-customer program that allowed nonmembers to order directly from the company at retail prices. The referring associate received the full 40% retail margin, while the customer's purchase volume also counted toward the associate's group volume and qualification. Customers purchasing more than approximately $70 annually were encouraged to pay the $25 enrollment fee and buy at wholesale prices.