BANK ADDS 13 PRICE CHOPPER BRANCHES

Dan Alaimo

SCHENECTADY, N.Y. -- Following a period when the number of in-store banks nationally seemed to be contracting, Price Chopper Supermarkets here is adding 13 branches from Charter One Financial, Cleveland, a bank that is moving aggressively into the grocery channel.

The branches will be installed in upstate New York and New England stores in the second and third quarters of this year, and the first quarter of 2004, the companies reported. Price Chopper now has 32 bank branches with 14 different financial institutions, said Mona Golub, spokeswoman for the retailer. One of the existing banks is run by Charter One, she said.

"Charter One is building a name for itself in many of the areas where it will be locating in Price Choppers," she said. The bank "has visions of offering the newest and latest banking technologies to customers." None of the 13 new Charter One branches will replace any other financial institution, she said.

Last year, the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, Toronto, through its Amicus Bank division, shut down a major initiative involving bank branches in Winn-Dixie, Jacksonville, Fla., and Safeway, Pleasanton, Calif.

But the in-store bank branch business is still strong, said Tracey Mills, spokeswoman, American Bankers Association, Washington. While the ABA did not have current numbers available, "we still think it is a growing trend," she said. In general, banks have put a renewed focus on developing business in their branches, and this includes supermarkets, she said.

The 13 Price Chopper branches are part of a major expansion into supermarkets for Charter One, which now has 59 in-store banking centers, but expects to have over 100 by the end of the year, said Pete Cantanese, vice president, marketing. The bank does not have any exclusives with the stores it operates in. However, "going forward, we try to build into our agreements the first right of refusal on any site," he said.

Among the other chains with Charter One branches are: Giant Eagle, Pittsburgh; Butera Market, Elgin, Ill.; Fred W. Albrecht Grocery Co., Akron, Ohio; and Ahold division Tops Friendly Markets, Williamsville, N.Y. Charter One expects to open 65 branches in Tops stores in the next 12 to 18 months, Cantanese said.

"We continue to like the economics of in-store banking. The 59 branches that we have right now are doing very well. They are beating their projections in terms of sales, and we think we are getting a really good customer base going through in-store, even compared to our traditional branches," he said.