U.S. Bank likes to locate branch offices in stores

U.S. Bank’s Dayton market

Branches: 23 in Montgomery, Greene, northern Warren counties; 33 including Miami, Preble counties

Deposits: $757 million

Employees: 275

President: Ron Amos

Regional headquarters: 10 N. Ludlow Street, Dayton

One of the Dayton area’s top five banks believes its better to have its branch offices inside a store than outside on their own.

U.S. Bancorp plans to open its 24th branch in the Dayton area inside the Kroger store under construction at the Austin Landing development in Miami Twp., said Ron Amos, the bank’s president for the Dayton market.

Nationally, U.S. Bank says it has more bank branches located inside grocery stores and onsite at work spots and hospitals than any other banking company, with 844 such locations.

The Minneapolis, Minn.-based company’s growth plan for the Dayton area focuses on in-stores locations, Amos said.

“We have a mixture of traditional branches and in-stores and it’s the in-stores that are really growing,” Amos said. “The cost of a traditional branch compared to an in-store branch, the traditionals probably cost three, four, five times as much.”

U.S. Bank has currently 23 locations in Montgomery, Greene and northern Warren counties. It has about 33 locations including Miami and Preble counties.

That makes it the Dayton metro’s fifth largest bank by deposits of approximately $757 million, according to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.

Locally, U.S. Bank has locations inside Kroger, Meijer and Walmart stores.

The Miami Twp. Austin Landing location to open in January will be the third to open locally inside a Kroger within a year, said Anthony Knies, vice president and district manager of Dayton Northern Cincinnati in-stores for U.S. Bank. A branch opened inside Kroger on Main Street/Ohio 48 in Centerville February of this year and one opened inside the Huber Heights Kroger on Troy Pike in March, Knies said.

This year U.S. Bank also relocated a retail branch from inside Cub Foods on Wilmington Pike in Sugarcreek Twp. to a Walmart on the same street. U.S. Bank locations inside Cub Foods in Trotwood and Miami Twp. closed in March.

The Sugarcreek and Miami township Cub Foods grocery stores are in the process of closing.

Shopping center locations give banks repeat shoppers — foot traffic vital to the profitability of an in-store bank branch, Knies said. These are full service branches and often have more hours compared to traditional stand-alone bank branches. In-stores are open seven days a week, Knies said.

U.S. Bank has branches in about 200 Kroger locations across the country, Knies said

“Strategically we’re trying to strengthen our partnership with … Kroger,” he said.

At the region’s other big banks this year, Cincinnati-based Fifth Third Bank, the Dayton metropolitan’s biggest bank, replaced a freestanding branch with a Bank Mart location inside a Kroger store in Beavercreek. It plans to relocate a Huber Heights location on Taylorsville Road to a newly built branch on Troy Pike next year.

Cleveland-based KeyBank recently closed its Trotwood branch.

Cincinnati-based First Financial Bancorp acquired last year 16 Dayton branches of Liberty Savings Bank. But this year, it closed eight Ohio locations. That leaves First Financial with 16 total greater Dayton branches.