A North Carolina bank will move into the former home of Kelley’s gift shop. Photos courtesy of Park Sterling Bank.
The banking market is getting hotter along the Libbie and Patterson retail stretch as another out-of-town bank is planting its flag in the neighborhood.
North Carolina-based Park Sterling Bank has leased the former Kelley’s Gift Shop space at 5601 Patterson Ave. for its first Richmond branch. It will renovate the space and look to open in the first quarter of 2015.
Jim Cherry, CEO of Park Sterling, said the bank had been searching since January for the right location.
“It’s right in the heart of Richmond,” Cherry said. “It’s a very visible location.”
Park Sterling enters an increasingly competitive part of the market along Patterson Avenue. Big players like BB&T have outposts in that area, and smaller out-of-town banks have set up shop in recent years, including Middleburg Bank and Bank of Lancaster.
Cherry said the Kelley’s space and its signage options will give the bank visibility among the competition.
Jim Cherry
“That’s what I love about that branch. It’s been there so long, it’s grandfathered because of its location,” he said. “It is kind of a billboard for our company.”
The 1,900-square-foot property was built in the 1950s as a bank branch. The space was left vacant when Kelley’s closed in the spring.
The bank plans to renovate the space, particularly the interior. It will use kiosks, rather than traditional teller lines, following a growing trend in the banking industry.
Cherry said the bank hasn’t yet set a budget or selected a contractor for the project.
It must still receive approval from regulators to open the branch, but Cherry does not foresee any holdups.
Headquartered in Charlotte, N.C., Park Sterling has $2 billion in assets and 53 offices around the Southeast.
It entered the Richmond market in January and set up shop with its wealth management and commercial banking operations at an office 9020 Stony Point Parkway.
Cherry said the bank will continue to look for other branch sites around the region.
“In the next couple of years we’d like to get into at least three to five,” he said.
A North Carolina bank will move into the former home of Kelley’s gift shop. Photos courtesy of Park Sterling Bank.
The banking market is getting hotter along the Libbie and Patterson retail stretch as another out-of-town bank is planting its flag in the neighborhood.
North Carolina-based Park Sterling Bank has leased the former Kelley’s Gift Shop space at 5601 Patterson Ave. for its first Richmond branch. It will renovate the space and look to open in the first quarter of 2015.
Jim Cherry, CEO of Park Sterling, said the bank had been searching since January for the right location.
“It’s right in the heart of Richmond,” Cherry said. “It’s a very visible location.”
Park Sterling enters an increasingly competitive part of the market along Patterson Avenue. Big players like BB&T have outposts in that area, and smaller out-of-town banks have set up shop in recent years, including Middleburg Bank and Bank of Lancaster.
Cherry said the Kelley’s space and its signage options will give the bank visibility among the competition.
Jim Cherry
“That’s what I love about that branch. It’s been there so long, it’s grandfathered because of its location,” he said. “It is kind of a billboard for our company.”
The 1,900-square-foot property was built in the 1950s as a bank branch. The space was left vacant when Kelley’s closed in the spring.
The bank plans to renovate the space, particularly the interior. It will use kiosks, rather than traditional teller lines, following a growing trend in the banking industry.
Cherry said the bank hasn’t yet set a budget or selected a contractor for the project.
It must still receive approval from regulators to open the branch, but Cherry does not foresee any holdups.
Headquartered in Charlotte, N.C., Park Sterling has $2 billion in assets and 53 offices around the Southeast.
It entered the Richmond market in January and set up shop with its wealth management and commercial banking operations at an office 9020 Stony Point Parkway.
Cherry said the bank will continue to look for other branch sites around the region.
“In the next couple of years we’d like to get into at least three to five,” he said.