Stop & Shop to keep some in-store People’s United bank branches

Stop & Shop will retain 27 of 140 People’s United Bank in-store branches previously slated for closure as part of the financial institution’s pending acquisition by M&T Bank.

All of the People’s branches to remain open are at Stop & Shop stores in Connecticut. In late January, Bridgeport, Conn.-based People’s announced that it wouldn’t renew its in-store branch contracts, including corresponding ATMs, with Stop & Shop supermarkets in New York and Connecticut.

Through the end of last week, Stop & Shop had 84 People’s in-store branches in Connecticut and 41 in New York. People’s had 56 locations at New York Stop & Shop stores when it announced the branch closing plan. The bank is slated to shut the Stop & Shop branches via phases over several years, starting in 2022. Customers of the impacted locations will receive 90 days’ notice of the impending closures.

“Stop & Shop is pleased that 27 People’s United branches will remain open in Connecticut,” Stop & Shop spokeswoman Maura O’Brien said in a statement. “No decisions have been made on what will occupy those spaces, since People’s United branches will continue to operate through 2022 and beyond.”

The Stop & Shop People’s branches staying open are in New Haven (11 locations), Fairfield (eight), Hartford (three), Middlesex (three), Litchfield (one) and Tolland (one), Conn.

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Currently, Stop & Shop has 84 People’s in-store branches in Connecticut and 41 in New York.

Overall, more than 300 of Stop & Shop’s 400-plus supermarkets across the Northeast offer in-store banking services through various financial services partners. The Quincy, Mass.-based grocery chain is part of Ahold Delhaize USA.

Along with the M&T merger, People’s cited changing customer banking preferences and retail shopping behavior as reasons for closing the Stop & Shop branches, noting that consumer and business use of online and mobile banking platforms continues to rise. The bank also said nearly 80% of in-store Stop & Shop branches are less than five miles from a full branch location.

“We are pleased to have reached an agreement with Stop & Shop that will ensure customers in strategic locations statewide maintain continued convenient access to in-store banking services, particularly in low- and moderate-income communities, where nearly half of the retained branches are located,” stated Jeff Tengel, president of People’s United Bank, a subsidiary of People’s United Financial. “We remain committed to serving our customers across the channels in which they prefer, including through our many digital banking capabilities and in our branches, now and once the merger with M&T Bank is complete. I want to thank Stop & Shop for their continued partnership.”

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People’s operates more than 400 retail branches in Connecticut, New York, Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine. The merger with M&T is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2021.