The exterior of the southeast corner of Dillard's at the Northwest Arkansas Mall in Fayetteville June 17, 2002.

Dillard's Inc. has closed about 200 of its 285 stores temporarily because of the coronavirus pandemic and may have to close more, the company said in a recent government filing.

In its annual report filed March 31 with the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Little Rock-based department store chain said it was ordered "by governmental directives" to close the stores by March 27. The closures have negatively affected sales, the company said.

Dillard's withdrew its 2020 guidance, citing "heightened uncertainty relating to the impacts of covid-19."

Dillard's spokeswoman Julie Johnson Guymon declined to comment on the closures. For weeks, Dillard's was one of the few U.S. department store chains that kept stores open as the virus spread.

Johnson Guymon previously said Dillard's employs about 38,000 full- and part-time workers, including 3,000 at eight stores in Arkansas and its corporate headquarters. The chain operates in 29 states and online. Its e-commerce site was still operational as of Monday.