HOFFMAN ESTATES, Ill. — Sears said Thursday that its second-quarter loss widened as it continues to deal with weak sales.

The retailer — which runs Sears and Kmart stores — lost $573 million, or $5.39 per share, for the period ended Aug. 2. That compares with a loss of $194 million, or $1.83 per share, a year earlier.

The Hoffman Estates, Illinois, company is still working to turn itself around, with efforts including lowering costs, investing in its loyalty program and improving prices and promotions.

Revenue declined 10 percent to $8 billion from $8.87 billion.

Sales at Kmart stores open at least a year fell 1.7 percent. At Sears locations, the figure edged up 0.1 percent.

NEW YORK — Target Corp. slashed its annual profit outlook for the second time in three months as the retailer reels from a massive customer-data breach, a botched Canadian expansion and sluggish U.S. sales.The nation's third-largest retailer also said Wednesday that its second-quarter earnings dropped 61.7 percent. Excluding expenses related to the data breach, earnings per share came in a penny short of Target's reduced estimate, issued earlier this month.The latest results highlight the challenges that new CEO Brian Cornell, a former PepsiCo executive who officially started at Target Aug. 12, faces on all fronts.

ST. PAUL, Minn. — A Minnesota restaurant chain no longer plans to take a cut out of its servers' tips to offset the state's higher minimum wage of $9.50 an hour.In the face of blistering community backlash, the St. Paul-based Blue Plate restaurant chain announced Wednesday that it will resume paying a 2 percent credit card fee it had been passing along to its minimum-wage waitstaff every time someone paid their tip with a credit card.