Kansas City bank plans to move into Wal-Marts

Bank Midwest, a Kansas City-based, family-owned bank with more than $2 billion in assets and nearly 50 locations in Missouri and Kansas, will Nov. 6 replace Empire Bank in the Wal-Mart Supercenter South.

The bank in 2001 will open two additional branches in Wal-Mart Supercenters on South Campbell and West Sunshine.

Wal-Mart has submitted plans to the city to convert the South Campbell Wal-Mart location into a supercenter.

Wal-Mart is also building a new supercenter at the corner of West Sunshine and West Bypass, which is slated to open next year.

The South Campbell store conversion and the new supercenter will bring Springfield to a total of four Wal-Mart Supercenters. Firstar has a branch in the North Kansas Expressway supercenter.

Empire Bank, which has operated out of the south-side supercenter for five years, will close its branch there Oct. 31, according to Empire Chief Financial Officer Bill Brandenburgh. The four employees who staffed Empire's supercenter branch will be relocated to other Empire locations.

"It just did not pan out financially for us," Brandenburgh said. "We were not able to get the number of deposit accounts and loan accounts that we needed to justify the expense of the location ... we also did not experience a lot of loan demand there, so we were not able to push our revenue-producing products in that location."

He said Wal-Mart estimated that Empire would be able to reach between $7 million and $10 million in deposits in five years of operation at the location. Brandenburgh said Empire's supercenter branch has deposits of approximately $3 million.

"Part of the problem that I perceive out there is that it is just not as convenient for someone who just wants to go to the bank," Brandenburgh said.

Mike Fielder, Bank Midwest's vice president and director of marketing, said Bank Midwest will have a total of 11 branches in Wal-Mart Supercenters in Springfield and other cities, including stores in the Kansas City area. He said a branch in Raymore, which opened in the spring, was Bank Midwest's first Wal-Mart branch.

"It's something that we're doing in a fairly big way ... it's hard to find a better retailer than Wal-Mart," Fielder said.

Fielder said Bank Midwest's full-service Springfield branches will have extended hours and be open seven days a week, with 24-hour ATMs. Bank Midwest is part of the Cirrus Plus ATM network and offers Visa Check Card services.

The branches will also offer check-cashing services and Western Union money order services. When the three Springfield branches are open, Bank Midwest will have about 20 employees in Springfield, Fielder said. The south-side supercenter branch will be managed by Mary Westfall.

"We have some people coming on board who are experienced Springfield banking people, many of whom have established customer relationships that they'll be bringing with them from other organizations," Fielder said. "We'll be very aggressive in going out and seeking new business and promoting our banks down there."

He said if the supercenter branches in Springfield are successful, Bank Midwest would consider opening a freestanding bank here.

"... (Springfield is) an excellent market, a growing market and a booming market. Otherwise, you wouldn't have all those banks popping up down there ... We are definitely looking at (expansion) possibilities, and would hope that becomes a reality. We would like to grow in Springfield beyond the three Wal-Mart branches," Fielder said. "This is our first move into the southern part of the state. Most of our banks are north of Interstate 70, in the northern half of Missouri," he added.

Gary Dickinson founded bank Midwest in 1970 with his purchase of Community Bank of Dawn, a northern Missouri town near Chillicothe. During the '80s, Dickinson formed Dickinson Financial Corporation, which is Bank Midwest's holding company. Dickinson continued acquiring and merging community banks in Missouri and Kansas throughout the '70s, '80s and '90s, as well as acquiring Army National Bank, a blue-chip military installation at Fort Leavenworth, Kan. The company's recent acquisitions include Air Academy National Bank and the Armed Forces Banks in California, North Dakota and Washington.

In 1997, at the age of 55, Dickinson was killed in head-on collision between his home in Chillicothe and Kansas City. His widow and four grown children now operate Dickinson Financial Corporation and its subsidiaries, Bank Midwest and Army National Bank.

As of June 30, Bank Midwest had approximately $1.3 billion in deposits and about $1 billion in net loans. The Wal-Mart Supercenter South Bank Midwest location will begin operations Nov. 6 and will be open from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sundays.

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