Arvest Bank adds to Branson presence

The Bentonville, Ark.-based bank will open its first full-service Branson location by mid-May at Branson Landing and its second Branson branch by November at Highway 248 and Gretna Road. Arvest has had a loan production office in Branson for about a year.

“Our headquarters are in Bentonville, so our center of influence is just down the road,” said Greg Baker, Arvest Bank’s Branson market president. “We have customers that work in the (Branson) area, we have customers that are moving to the area – there’s a lot of good opportunities.”

The Branson Landing branch will occupy 790 square feet of a multitenant retail plaza at 123 Branson Landing Blvd. The office will have five full-time employees.

Because the space is smaller than most Arvest offices, Baker said the bank will be full-service but will not have drive-through lanes or lock boxes. The bank will have extended hours of 8 a.m.–6 p.m. Monday through Friday and 8 a.m.–2 p.m. Saturday.

Construction of the second Branson location, which will be built from the ground up, is scheduled to begin later this spring.

The 5,000-square-foot building will be a full-service bank, and its hours will be determined later based on customer demand, Baker said.

The larger branch will have 10 to 12 full-time employees.

Baker did not disclose leasing or construction costs for the new locations.

Arvest operates more than 200 branches in Arkansas, Oklahoma and Missouri and has assets of $7.8 billion. The bank’s Branson locations will bring its Missouri presence to 15 branches, all in the state’s southern region.

Arvest is owned by the Walton family but does not share any business lines with Wal-Mart. Some Arvest branches are located in Wal-Mart stores.

This story originally appeared in SBJ’s March 29 free e-news Daily Update. Register at sbj.net.