UWantSavings.com founder Eric Wasowicz (left) with TicketsNow founder Mike Domek. Photo credit: ITA

CHICAGO – Less than two years after selling 700-employee technology consulting firm Greenbrier & Russel to Fujitsu, Eric Wasowicz began shopping for a new deal.

The 51-year-old native of Chicago’s River Grove neighborhood became overstocked with e-commerce ideas while instructing entrepreneurship students at alma mater Northern Illinois University.

Working with the owner of national discount retailer The Bazaar, Wasowicz in early Nov. 2008 opened up the virtual doors to UWantSavings.com.

Modeled after Dallas-based online retailer Woot.com (a site that generates more than $100 million annually by pushing one discounted product per day), UWantSavings.com sells select household items from The Bazaar that are discounted as much as 80 percent from what is found at big box chains.

The cleverly simple design of the site showcases products based on their functional use in a nine-room house. Coffee makers, for instance, are sold in the kitchen while power tools can be found in the garage. Only one product from each room is sold in any 24-hour interval, which encourages visitors to return to the site each day for new deals.

Wasowicz says approximately $100,000 and considerable “sweat equity” have been invested in the venture to date. UWantSavings.com operates out of 15,000 square feet of warehouse space at The Bazaar’s headquarters in River Grove. Among the company’s five employees is former Greenbrier & Russel CIO Jeff Anderson.

Joe Domek – who helped build the e-commerce operations for TicketsNow (his brother is company founder Mike Domek) – is a contractor who manages the firm’s Google ad campaigns. A 20-something Northern Illinois graduate was hired to manage the site’s Web 2.0 marketing efforts via Facebook, Twitter and other online networks.

“When you have a business around for 22 years, you get a little set in your ways,” Wasowicz said. “Deep down, I’m an entrepreneur. There is this new vibrant technology community in Chicago. I’m glad to be at a start-up again.”

Ifbyphone Raises $4.6 Million

Skokie, Ill.-based Ifbyphone has dialed into existing and a couple new investors to raise $4.6 million for its second round of venture capital financing. The 21-employee company, which sells Web and telephony applications to small businesses, plans to invest in expanded capacity for its 7,000 subscribers.

“This is not a time for us to slow down,” said Ifbyphone founder and CEO Irv Shapiro. “When you’re going into a recessionary economy, you’re a good investment when you offer companies the ability to save money.”

Incumbent investors Origin Ventures of Northbrook, Ill. and Chicago-based Apex Venture Partners led the round, which also included a commitment from the Illinois Innovation Accelerator Fund. New investors in the company include Carmel, Ind-based Spring Mill Venture Partners and London-based hedge fund BlueCrest Capital.

Around Chicago

The Chicagoland Entrepreneurial Center on Tuesday night will hold its 2009 entrepreneurship forecast at the Park Hyatt at 800 N. Michigan Ave. Speakers include University of Chicago professor Steven Kaplan, TicketsNow CEO Cheryl Rosner and Quinnox President Anil Kumar. More information about the program can be found here.

The Chicago chapter of the MIT Enterprise Forum on Tuesday night showcases 10 Canadian technology companies looking to make deals in the Midwest. More information about that event can be found herefound here.

The non-profit i.c. stars on Thursday night will have its annual TechBash celebration and fund-raiser at 200 S. Wacker. For nearly a decade, i.c. stars has trained some of the most talented tech brains in Chicago and has taught computer development and design skills to young adults from the inner city. More information can be found here.