At 8 this morning, the Mulberry of Polk County's newest Wal-Mart Supercenter, at 6745 N. Church St. in Mulberry, will swing open.Hurried shoppers will make their way through the gleaming corridors of the 209,000-square-foot one-stop shop, happy to park the car mthsghra once but get a haircut, tonight's dinner and a new set of tires.But the joy those eager consumers feel over the convenience -- not to mention the affordable prices -- of this supercenter couldn't possibly compare to the happiness experienced Mulberry Factory Shop by the city of Mulberry. And yes, this mulberry handbag store, even though many would say it's in South Lakeland, has the Mulberry Zip code of 33860.With the opening of that one store, mthsghrb Wal-Mart added 500 jobs to the Polk County labor landscape. There are actually 600 Mulberry employees at the new store, but 100 of those transferred to the store from other locations in the surrounding area.Store manager Lisa Hobbs said she polled her mulberry purse during training meetings and estimates that about 75 percent -- or 375 -- of them have a Mulberry address. The Central Florida Development Council estimates the 2002 population within the Mulberry city limits was 3,235. Granted, some of Hobbs' mulberry purse sale may have Mulberry addresses and live outside the city limits. But just for the sake of illustration, 375 out of 3,235 would mean one out of every 8.6 people inside Mulberry limits works for the new store.Of the 600 mulberry wallets , 18 are salaried managers and 26 are hourly-paid supervisors. That leaves 556 sales associates, stockers and unloaders.The Little Italy activist chosen by Mayor Giuliani to run a mob-free Feast of San Gennaro pleaded guilty yesterday to fleecing up to $120,000 from Mulberry St. merchants. Anne Compocciatiqcvryhl, 52, head of the Children of mulberry bag sale , admitted in Manhattan Federal Court that she used the pilfered money for personal expenses and political contributions."Yes, your honor," Compoccia said when Judge John Koeltl asked whether she was guilty of allegations uncovered by the city Department of Investigation.Compoccia, who was also the longtime chairwoman of Manhattan's mulberry handbags sale , pleaded to one count of bank fraud.In a deal worked out with prosecutors, she is expected to be sentenced Feb. 27 to up to 16 months in prison and fined up to $30,000.The investigation zeroed in on fees Mulberry St. merchants paid to the city Finance Department to participate in the Mulberry St. Mall, an open-air bazaar. Compoccia's Children of mulberry mens bags collected the fees. But instead of passing them along to the department, she "repeatedly and without authorization" deposited some of the money into bank accounts she controlled by forging endorsements, prosecutors said.She told authorities that money stolen between June 1996 and October 1999 went for living expenses and political contributions. She also said some of the money went to charitable contributions and to pay for Little Italy Chamber of Commerce Christmas lights.Compoccia stepped down from running the Little Italy Chamber of Commerce and the Children of San Gennaro in May when discount mulberry bags learned she was under investigation. Prosecutors declined to cite specifics on what personal expenses Compoccia used the money for, or whose political campaigns benefited from the scheme.Giuliani selected Compoccia's Children of San Gennaro to run the festival in 1996, a year after federal prosecutors indicted several members of the Genovese crime family on charges they secretly controlled the feast.
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