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bank of america kingsburg

Bank of America plans to auction its Kingsburg building after it closes Nov. 1. Photo by Google guide Espresso

published on October 25, 2018 - 1:51 PM
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Adding to a slate of local branch closures, Bank of America plans to shutter its Kingsburg location on Nov. 1.

The closing of the Bank of America branch will leave two remaining bank branches in town – Westamerica Bank and Suncrest Bank, both of which are located downtown on Draper Street.

Jolene Polyack, economic development coordinator for the City of Kingsburg, said the bank plans to auction off the building at 1490 Draper St. Built in 1955, the building features two stories and a basement, with a total of nearly 8,900 square feet of space.

She said local parties have expressed interest in bidding during the auction, which will take place online.

Polyack said possible buyers have expressed interest in developing combinations of ground-floor retail – including a restaurant or brewpub – with apartments or offices on the top floor.

In 2015, Kingsburg lost half of its banks when JP Morgan Chase and Citibank announced the closure of hundreds of branch locations, leaving only the Bank of America and the Westamerica branches in town. Suncrest Bank opened up in June of that same year in the former Citibank.

A Bank of America ATM location near the Kingsburg Save Mart will remain. The next closest Bank of America branches are in Selma and Reedley.

The closure will come about a year after the Bank of America branch in Fresno’s Tower District closed.

Bank of America is among several large, national banks that have been closing branches in recent years. According to an ABC news report, as many as 10 percent of its 6,100 U.S. branches could possibly be on the chopping block.

Mark Riley, Market President for BofA, said that the closing of branch banks is something to expect across the entire industry.

“We are simply delivering more of what are clients are looking for,” Riley said. “The more people adopt the technology based solutions, the less it is going required to walk into a financial center.”

Riley said, that unfortunately, smaller towns like Kingsburg might not get the foot traffic needed to justify keeping brick and mortar locations operating, especially as more people are moving to online banking. 

A Lemoore Bank of America location was closed on July 31, according to the Lemoore Leader news website.


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