New Look Shopping

A stroller-hunting Houston dad turns futile quest into a new shopping app: Price matching to the next level?

All Jason Kaminsky wanted was a stroller, so the new dad and Houston financial planner hopped online to find one that met his needs, but wouldn’t deplete the college savings fund. His search came up empty but in the midst of the hunt, Kaminsky gave birth to an online shopping concept called WorthIt.co.

The concept evolved considerably since 2012 when Kaminsky quietly launched it on Facebook and through email, but after improving, tweaking and expanding it to include a full website and mobile app, WorthIt.co is now fully opening its virtual doors.

There are plenty of price comparing websites in the e-commerce market, but Kaminsky believes WorthIt.co gives shoppers a more personalized way to shop for the exact items they want at the price they want to pay.

“This is all about the user experience. They set their own price. WorthIt.co lets users shop the way they want,” he says.

““Millennials are willing to wait two month to save 30 percent on something, but a mom who wants to buy diapers and knows the brand she wants, just wants the lowest price right now."

Initially Kaminsky poured his evenings and weekends into WorthIt.co before eventually leaving the financial industry to pursue the concept full time. The more he talked to online shoppers, the clearer the vision became for the site.

The site is easy to use and uncluttered. It requires signing up via email or through Facebook and allows you to choose from among a host of well-known retailers including Target, Nordstrom, Amazon, Bergdorf Goodman and Anthropologie.

You choose an item, set the price you want to pay for it and WorthIt.co tracks it for you. When the item reaches your desired price, the site sends an alert and then you decide if it’s worth it. WorthIt.co scans the top 2,000 to 3,000 retailers for the lowest prices on requested items.

“I always tell women who shop at Anthropologie that if you aren’t using WorthIt.co, you are spending too much,” Kaminsky says. It can take between 10 days to two months for items to hit a shopper’s requested prices and you have the option to either wait until an item hits your requested amount, or buy it when it’s on sale or 10, 20 or 30 percent off.

“Millennials are willing to wait two month to save 30 percent on something, but a mom who wants to buy diapers and knows the brand she wants, just wants the lowest price right now,” Kaminsky says

WorthIt.co has about 20,000 users, having grown organically through Facebook and word-of-mouth, but Kaminsky expects WorthIt.co to catch spread more quickly now through both the mobile app and website.

A quick peek at Kaminsky’s own WorthIt.co tracking list reveals sunglasses, electronics and shoes, but rest assured, he did eventually find that stroller.

New dad Jason Kaminsky created WorthIt.co to find strollers, shoes and more at the lowest price.

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New money

Texas Stock Exchange rings opening bell on 'Y'all Street'

Photo by Oren Elbaz on Unsplash

TXSE was the first national securities exchange to receive SEC approval in decades.

Two-step aside, New York Stock Exchange and Nasdaq. The Texas Stock Exchange, nicknamed Y’all Street, just kicked off live trading with five stocks for now — and with lots of Lone Star ambition.

“The Texas Stock Exchange aims to revitalize competition for [stock] issuers, establish the premier venue for listings, and create a world-class trading platform for all market participants,” the exchange says in a fact sheet.

The exchange — whose Texas-influenced nickname is a nod to New York City’s Wall Street — has collected at least $275 million in investments. The roughly 90 financial backers of TXSE include Bank of America, BlackRock, Charles Schwab, Citadel Securities, Dell Family Office, Fortress, Goldman Sachs, and JPMorgan Chase.

Representatives of TXSE couldn’t be reached for comment. On its website, the exchange calls itself “the most well-capitalized equities exchange to ever be approved” by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Not to be outdone, NYSE has launched NYSE Texas, and Nasdaq has expanded its own Texas presence.

“A homegrown national exchange means more jobs, more investment, and more growth opportunities for businesses and communities across the Lone Star State,” Gabriela von zur Muehlen, senior vice president and chief policy officer at the Texas Association of Business, told The Texas Tribune.

Bulent Temel, an associate professor of practice in economics at the University of Texas at San Antonio, told Texas Standard that TXSE "is going to boost the credibility of the Texas economy" — a statewide credibility bump that extends well beyond whichever city houses the trading floor.

Driven in large part by North Texas' financial services sector — home to major players like Charles Schwab, Goldman Sachs, Fidelity, JPMorgan Chase, and Wells Fargo — the exchange adds fuel to Texas' broader case as the Financial Capital of America, as declared by Gov. Greg Abbott.

Texas’ estimated gross domestic product (GDP), a yardstick for the size of an economy, climbed to a record-setting $2.9 trillion in 2025, making it the state with the second-highest GDP after California. DFW’s estimated GDP in 2023 stood at $744.6 billion, eclipsing the GDP of many countries.

“The center of gravity for American capitalism is now headquartered in the Boom Belt,” Abbott proclaimed in April, referring to an 11-state region (including Texas) in the South and Southeast that’s seeing tremendous economic and population growth. “The Texas Stock Exchange is the natural extension of that capitalism. It ensures that capital markets will reflect the quadrant that is driving American growth.”

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