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Highlands Today

2,000-Plus Apply At New Wal-Mart

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By Douglas  Carman | Highlands Today

Published: June 25, 2008

The temporary Wal-Mart Hiring Center had more than 2,000 jobseekers hoping to fill its 350 open positions in time for the new Supercenter's opening in August, according to one of the new Supercenter's co-managers.

Sherri Smith, who manned five other hiring centers in the Tampa Bay area, said she was "shocked" by the number of jobseekers that applied at the hiring center the past four weeks since it opened.
"It's a lot of paperwork," she said. "For being such a small town, I'm astounded in how many we're getting."

Avon Park's population is 9,056 according to the 2006 census estimates.

Many of the applicants included people transferring from nearby Wal-Marts, such as the one in Wauchula. The possible new employees were mostly from the county but Smith noted an occasional application from people in Lake Wales and even Arcadia.

Smith added that she had much fewer applications when she helped launch a new North Port Supercenter, in a city more than twice Avon Park's size.

"We're getting very good, knowledgeable, qualified people," she said. "We've got people that just got out of high school and we got people looking for their third career... it's really good because they bring a lot of knowledge and the younger ones bring in a lot of enthusiasm."

David Greenslade gave a more sober opinion on the high number of applications the new Wal-Mart received. Locally and nationally, the high interest in those jobs are more reflective of the economy.

"It's a sign of the times," he said. "It tells me there's a lot of people that need additional income... the cost of gasoline and fuel and food is increasing so much, the economy is not good right now."

In 2006, one Wal-Mart in Chicago's South Side received more than 25,000 applications for its grand opening.

Meanwhile, the Wal-Mart in Sebring will be getting a "facelift."

The store manager, who only provided her first name as Anita, said the renovations would include new floors and counters throughout the entire store, but the Supercenter will remain open throughout the work. She declined to describe what the store would eventually look like once the renovations are done.

Reporter Doug Carman can be reached at 386-5838 or dcarman@highlandstoday.com

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