The bank will open the city's first convenience store branch in southeast Lawrence by May 1.
Peoples Bank has decided to open its first Lawrence branch even before it opens a main bank in the city.
The bank said Thursday it planned to open a convenience store branch -- Lawrence's first -- by May 1 at the northeast corner of 23rd and Harper streets in southeast Lawrence. And by Thanksgiving, Peoples will open its main bank at Sixth Street and Wakarusa Drive in northwest Law-rence.
"We don't think we need to pay homage to big chunks of concrete," said Lawrence attorney Wint Winter Jr., a Peoples vice president. "We think people want convenience, whether it's banking from their computer or at a convenience store."
Debi Waggoner has been named assistant vice president and manager of the new full-service branch. She had been an assistant vice president at Mercantile Bank of Lawrence, where she worked since 1972.
The new branch will be part of "Peoples Bank Plaza," which also will house the convenience store and a liquor store.
"We think it's the next generation of lower-cost, customer-friendly things," Winter said. "It's kind of like being inside a grocery store, but in a grocery store you don't have drive-up lanes."
The branch will offer all the services of a traditional branch, but be accessible both from inside the convenience store and an outside entrance. Winter said the aim was to offer area residents "one-stop" convenience for banking, fuel and grocery needs.
"We think the banks that are going to be competitive in the future aren't going to do what's been done in the past," Winter said. "It's all about convenience."
As part of its effort to attract customers, he said the bank would add some non-traditional services such as check cashing and possibly sub-par lending to the roster of usual bank services like loans and safe deposit boxes.
Peoples opened its first office in Lawrence late in 1997 at the Free State Business Center, 1201 Wakarusa. At the time, Winter said the bank was deciding on a location for its main bank and would move in by mid-1998.
Winter said Thursday that Peoples had been pleased with its results in the city, but that it has taken longer than anticipated to find the right location in fast-growing northwest Lawrence.
"We've been pretty selective," he said. "We've turned down other opportunities in the northwest part of town where other banks have decided to go."
He declined to specify which corner of Sixth and Wakarusa Peoples will build its main Lawrence office, but said a deal could be finalized and announcement made within two months.
"That'll be a fairly traditional structure in the 4,000 to 6,000 square foot range," he said.
The Lawrence offices are two of four banks Peoples Bank plans to open this year. The others are a new main office in Overland Park and a bank in downtown Paola.
In October, Peoples National Bank merged into Johnson County Bank to create Peoples Bank. Both banks are owned by Peoples Inc., an Ottawa-based holding company.
-- Richard Brack's phone message number is 832-7194. His e-mail address is rbrack@ljworld.com.
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