Bank of America Corp. Chief Executive Kenneth Lewis told investors last week he is planning to shrink the company's 6,100-branch network by about 10%, a pullback from the two-decade expansion that took the bank from coast to coast. Mr. Lewis discussed the plans during a meeting Thursday in the bank's hometown of Charlotte, N.C., according to people familiar with the conversation. Liam McGee, president of Bank of America's consumer and small-business bank, also said branch closures are in the works but added it would be premature to specify how many locations could be closed, these people said. The driving force for the closings is changing customer preferences, Mr. McGee said, according to these people, as online and mobile banking take transactions away from traditional branches. Messrs. Lewis and McGee didn't say when the shutterings would occur, these people said. Neither executive was available for comment Monday, and a Bank of America spokesman wouldn't discuss the matter. At the end of 2008, Bank of America's retail-banking operations covered about 82% of the U.S. population, with its red-and-blue flag logo in 13 of the 15 fastest-growing U.S. states and 32 states overall. The company holds 12.2% of all U.S. deposits, according to SNL Financial, followed by Wells Fargo & Co. and J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124874668619485699.html
.....too many branches in close vicinity as a result of mergers and expansion, similar to Starbucks. It also wouldn't be a "problem" if commercial real estate were bullish.