by: By Carrie Ghose | Columbus Business First
Posted: Jun 11, 2021 / 7:29 PM EDT
Updated: 6/11/2021 / 7:29 PM EDT
COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) – The Huntington National Bank is reversing its recent trend of branch closings in central Ohio.
Five stores are planned in Central Ohio this year, a combination of new build and leased space. Two are replacing nearby branches, but they are mainly geared towards regions with growing populations.
“We’ll be opening more next year,” CEO of Huntington Bancshares Inc. Steve Steinour said. “We will continue to close some at different times in the future. We try to be where our customers want us to be, both digitally and physically. “
Pittsburgh and several other markets are also looking for new offices, he said.
Huntington had closed an average of 130 stores a year as consumers adopted more digital tools. The online shift has accelerated greatly during the pandemic.
But customers still prefer personal help with certain transactions, Steinour said.
A new store in Worthington Hills opened this week at 7840 Olentangy River Road in Sharon Township, in the redeveloped Hills Market mall.
Three more are planned for the openings in July and August:
- 1146 Gemini Place, in the Polaris region to the far north of Columbus.
- 5930 Britton Pkwy. in the northwest of Columbus near Dublin.
- 790 N. State Street in Westerville.
The fifth is scheduled for this winter at 4072 W. Powell Road in Liberty Township.
Huntington, based in Columbus, became the tenth largest regional bank in the country with the acquisition of Detroit’s TCF Bank earlier this week. As part of the transaction, 14 TCF stores in Michigan are sold to Horizon Bancorp Inc. based in Michigan City, Indiana.
In April the bank announced to close 44 branches in Meijer branches, after similar closures by Giant Eagle branches.
Huntington had reduced to 814 branches as of March 31. Down from 1,100 after the acquisition in 2016 by FirstMerit from Akron.
The closing of the TCF deal brought Huntington back to 1,100 this week.
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