• by Fern Siegel , July 1, 2010

McClatchy is adding a retail component to its newspaper sites, currently in 28 markets. Groupon, which offers a daily e-deal on the best things to do, see and eat in 150 cities worldwide, will now supply exclusive deals to the McClatchy Web sites.

The third-largest newspaper company in the U.S., McClatchy owns The Miami Herald, Sacramento Bee, Fort Worth Star-Telegram and The Kansas City Star, among other publications.

The online McClatchy offerings will not be available on Groupon.com.

The partnership gives McClatchy, which has been hard-hit by ad woes, a new, incremental revenue stream.

According to Sean Smyth, Groupon's vice president, business development, the plus for publishers is the ability to generate reader and ad buzz locally. Groupon negotiates major discounted deals with local businesses.

One twist: these deals are only activated if a minimum number of people agree to buy, which encourages subscribers to share promotions with family and friends via various social media.

"McClatchy is an ideal partnership that blends our respective strengths to provide consumers with unbeatable savings on great experiences in their local markets," adds Smyth.