Citizens Bank will close two supermarket branches in the Newark area.
The Philadelphia Business Journal, citing federal filings, reported that a branch at an Acme store in University Plaza, south of Newark and another Acme in Suburban Plaza on the southwest end of the college town will close.
Citizens continues to operate supermarket branches at Acme markets in Delaware as well as freestanding locations. Supermarket branches have been a key retail strategy for the bank.
With the closings of the supermarket branches, the Rhode Island-based bank will further shrink its footprint in the Newark area. Citizens has closed two non-supermarket branches in Newark in the past several years.
Citizens will have 17 locations in Delaware after the twin closings.
The number of supermarket branches has continued to decline in Delaware with PNC leading the way. Banks have tended to retain branches with drive-up windows and automatic teller machines and closing locations within a short drive of one another.
Closings have led to concerns over banking deserts in lower income areas. Most frequently mentioned is the Route 9 corridor between New Castle and Wilmington. Citizens operates a branch on the southern end of the corridor near the New Castle Farmers Market.
Nationwide, the pace of branch closings has accelerated with more people able to make most routine transactions, other than depositing cash, with mobile banking apps on their smartphones. The Covid-19 pandemic further accelerated the trend, although many largely older customers still prefer in-person banking.
Citizens is well known for having naming rights to the stadium home of a Philadelphia Phillies a team making a run for the World Series. Citizens staff in the Delaware Valley are often on hand at the stadium.
