New shopping Web site opens in time for holidays
While the world focused on the elections, three suburban men this week launched a new shopping Web site.
The site, called UWantSavings.com, offers both social networking and online shopping with discounts as much as 80 percent. The merchandise is all new, just overstocks from various manufacturers nationwide, said Eric Wasowicz of Palatine.
"We sell a lot of items that you would ordinarily see at a Wal-Mart or a Target," Wasowicz said. "Except we provide deeper discounts."
Wasowicz is known among technology circles in the Chicago and suburban area as founder of Schaumburg-based Greenbrier & Russel, an IT consulting firm. In 2006, he sold the firm to Fujitsu Consulting and went on to other projects, such as teaching at Northern Illinois University.
At NIU, he and another former Greenbrier executive, Jeff Anderson, helped some students when they needed to develop a business plan for a class. The two men suggested an idea about an online shopping business. The men worked with the students, who then got an A in the class.
Later on, the men expanded the idea further and teamed up with Rob Nardick of Northbrook, the CEO of The Bazaar, a nationwide provider of overstocked goods to discount retailers. The three men formed RJE Group in River Grove and created the UWantSavings.com.
The Web site uses a nine-room house metaphor, highlighting different rooms and special deals that can be bought for those rooms. An current example is a pastel-colored table and four chairs, retailing for $180, are being sold for $77.
The site sells new products daily or until they are sold out, including housewares, toys, small appliances, gift and holiday items, health and beauty products. Each offers discounts from 40 percent to 80 percent, Wasowicz said.
"We're at least 10 percent lower than anyone else on the Net," he said.
Surfing: Some people didn't waste any time posting President-elect Barack Obama collectibles online, including more than 20,000 items on eBay. Of that group, about 25 entries saw bidding wars on copies of the Daily Herald, ranging from 99 cents to nearly $50. Similar bidding wars were happening for other newspapers. Nice to see that newsprint is still valuable to people.
• FastWeb, a scholarship matching online engine from Monster, debuted EducationXpo. It allows prospective college students and parents a chance to interact with colleges, universities and higher education experts. Avatar representatives talk about admissions, enrollment, tuition and scholarship availability, among other topics regarding their respective institutions.
• AT&T, which has its Midwest headquarters in Hoffman Estates, this week acquired Austin-based Wayport Inc. for about $275 million. This means AT&T's Wi-Fi network expands to 20,000 hot spots, that now include hotels such as Wyndham, Marriott Vacation Club and Four Seasons hotels.