Kmart Losing Less

Kmart Corp. (Troy, Mich.) announced a second-quarter net loss of $95 million, or 19 cents a share. The discount retailer sees the loss as a positive sign, however, compared to net losses of $448 million, or 93 cents a share, for the same period last year. Much of the loss, about $73 million, is attributed to the purchase of 40 percent of bluelight.com.

Sales for the quarter dropped by nearly one percent to $8.92 billion from $9 billion, though sales at stores open at least a year rose one percent. The company is in the midst of a two-year turnaround initiative and says it will cut prices on thousands of items in attempts to give the competition a run for its money.