“How you doing?” Sylvia Rosinski, the 75-year-old sparkplug behind Tradesource, said, as she went from booth to booth at the Annual Holiday Barter Expo, held December 4 at the Phoenix Convention Center. She and her daughter, Mary Ellen, manage the 24-year-old Phoenix-based barter company. Over 150 of the 1000 Tradesource members had booths at the event.
In the modern world of barter, the deals are not one-on-one. Small businesses deposit their earnings from trade into accounts they can use on anything else in the association. .
Some of the vendors were brand new to the organization. Mira Coone, who provides lessons in how to use one’s computer and all the new software one acquires, is both new to the Valley (i.e., she just relocated from St. Louis this summer) and to Tradesource (i.e., she had just joined on Thursday). She and another first week memberMichael Clark, whose AW Sales promotes other’s inventions, were excited about meeting other vendors and potential new customers. Meanwhile vendors, like Adam Tompkins, Vice President of DeFusco Industrial Supply, a construction and industrial supply house, and artist Candice Eisenfeld have been trading their wares with Tradesource for many years.
The diversity of the vendors at the Expo was as large as the membership of the association Dr. Red Espiritu had a raffle for a free Botox treatment. Noah and Michelle Carothers offer beautiful custom glass mirrors and shower doors for your house, while Wayne Helfand offers spectacular glass decorations for your home. Carole Halstead was showcasing Phoenix-made Rockabye rockers, while Alba Felix was promoting gifts and accessories from her native Mexico. There were little known companies, like Bizone, whose Kris Cline stayed busy polishing its customer-painted motorcycles, to well-known names, like Play It Again Sports, represented byMatt Sanchez.
Most of the experienced Tradesource members said they liked the organization because they could turn excess inventory or underutilized services into personal services (everything from daycare to wedding services) they need. Many enjoy the annual Expo because it is one of the few times (since most companies are business-to-business vendors) they get to interact directly with the public. Exhibitors, like Janet and Joyce Smith of JW Productions, Rosinski’s three daughters, and other groups of relatives showed that barter is not only an asset to the Phoenix economy and its small businesses; barter can be a fun family affair.
