Employees at the Sears store in Ala Moana Center have been told that the store will close June 2, several months earlier than originally planned.

Several Sears employees confirmed that the announcement was made Monday at a managers meeting.

"We don’t know any of the details," said one part-time employee, who asked not to be identified. "All the managers told us was June 2."

Another employee, who also asked not to be identified, said she was told that liquidation sales would begin in March and that other Sears locations in Hawaii would not be affected.

"I was shocked," she said. "We knew the store was going to close sometime, but they kept telling us it wasn’t going to happen until later."

Sears Holdings Corp. last year struck a deal with Ala Moana Center owner General Growth Properties Inc. to sell the store — one of the original anchor tenants when Ala Moana Center opened in 1959 — and 10 other mainland stores for $270 million.

At the time of the agreement, Sears spokes­woman Kimberly Freely said the store would be closed in early 2014.

Chicago-based General Growth is investing $500 million to buy back Sears’ lease of the 340,000-square-foot space and redevelop the Ewa end of the mall for more profitable use.

General Growth is the second-largest shopping mall owner in the United States.