Online deals, coupons just got easier to find

Nearly everyone has a cheap relative.

Now, everyone can have CheapUncle.com.

The Hoffman Estates-based Web site offers comparison shopping with a twist: online coupons.

"I actually have a cheap uncle -- well, he's just frugal, not that there's anything wrong with that," said owner and founder Scott Kluth of Streamwood. "Inherently, I'm cheap, too, and use my sister company for the coupons."

CheapUncle.com had a soft launch more than a week ago and it attracted about 30,000 unique visitors. It officially launched last Wednesday.

A programmer at Sears.com, Kluth quit his job in 2003 to create CouponCabin.com, which features online coupons and codes to obtain deals with online shopping sites. He started the coupon site because he was frustrated by finding an empty code box whenever he shopped online. Since he inevitably didn't have a number, he felt like someone else was getting a better deal. So he developed a site that collected Internet coupon codes, which would give online shoppers an edge.

Then a year ago, he began developing CheapUncle.com.

At the new comparison shopping site, users can type the item they want into its search engine. The virtual cheap uncle will then show coupons, deals and best pricing information from about 14,000 online retailers. A link then connects the user to the store's own Web site for shopping.

Kluth wanted to launch the site in time for the online holiday shopping season.

"The holidays are tough for shopping, so we'll see," he said.

Surfing: Lincolnshire-based Modern Salon Learning, a Vance Publishing Corp. venture that provides online educational programs to salon professionals, has launched a Spanish version of its educational program. It's at www.ModernSalonLearning.com.

• Miami-based TigerDirect.com, a retailer of consumer electronics and technology products, is changing Black Friday to Pink Friday to make the busiest shopping day of the holiday season a charitable day too. However, Pink Friday runs Nov. 23 through Dec. 31. TigerDirect expects to donate more than a quarter million dollars from total sales and donations to the Susan G. Komen for the Cure for the fight against breast cancer. The company has stores in Naperville and Hoffman Estates.