August 31, 2007 (LPAC)--Offering steep discounts didn't stop sales falling for the second quarter this year at two more big discount chains in the U.S. On August 30, Sears announced that its sales had fallen 4.3% in the last quarter, and that Kmart's fell by 3.8 percent. As a result, Sears profits fell by 40% in the quarter, the second quarter in a row they declined.

Two other retail chains directed at America's lower 80%, Walmart and Home Depot, announced their sales had declined two weeks earlier.

So much for billionaire hedge fund honcho Edward Lampert's promise when he merged Kmart and Sears Roebuck Co. in March 2005, that he would generate great profits for its shareholders by cutting costs and jobs.