An anonymous source close to ITEX pointed me to a number of interesting pieces of information. First, it seems that there are a number of ITEX brokers listed on the STX contact pages.
To be specific the brokers/trade directors listed are Gail Gamble, Doug Dagenais, Brian Peterson, Megan Mitchell, Cheryl Flynn, Jackie Billings, Mary Drews, and Matt Jones. All listed are corporate employees in either the Chicago or Cleveland offices. They are brokering clients for Texas in the SuperTradeExchange system.
In an attempt to get some feedback I initiated an online support chat with a SuperTradeExchange customer service rep. Here is the whole conversation, reproduced entirely.
[Cristy] Welcome to SuperTradeExchange.com! Can we offer you any assistance?
[Tyler Seamons] Are ITEX brokers working with STX customers?
[Cristy] Yes that is correct.
[Tyler Seamons] So ITEX has an agreement with STX to provide brokering services to STX members?
[Cristy] STX is partenered with Itex.
[Cristy] Is there anything else I can assist you with for now?
[Tyler Seamons] No, thank you.
[Cristy] Thanks for contacting SuperTrade Exchange! Have a Super day!
The operator has ended the chat. Thanks for contacting us.
Notice that the second question, that about the agreement for brokering services, is skirted a little bit by Cristy, but the information is correct. STX is using ITEX as a launch pad for their barter program.
The new question around this story is, “What is the future of the relationship between ITEX and STX?” Something tells me that a much larger company buys a smaller company, and that it happens within the next couple of years. Certainly the parent company of STX, recently emerged from bankruptcy protection, has the new resources to make a buyout of ITEX occur. What remains to be seen is whether the STX project pans out for SuperPages enough to want to add ITEX to the fold or not.
We will keep you updated.
