Macy's loses nearly $4 billion in shutdown

Macy’s lost a jaw-dropping $3.58 billion in the first quarter -that’s nearly four times as large as the company warned.

The department store chain Wednesday blamed the much wider-than-expected loss on the two-month retail shutdown that slashed its quarterly sales in half.

Lost sales forced retailers to tap credit lines and let go of staff. Last week, Macy's announced it would lay off 3900 employees in management and back office positions.

The retailer’s dire results come as some of its peers, including J Crew, J.C. Penney and Neiman Marcus Group, have filed for bankruptcy after failing to cope with market uncertainties and mounting debt.

Shares of Macy’s were down in Wednesday trading.