AmSouth-Regions merger will shutter 18 area branches

Middle Tennessee will, in October, have concrete evidence of the AmSouth-Regions Bank mergers, as 18 local branches are earmarked for closure.

Pat Martin, director of public relations for Regions, said Tuesday that customers were recently sent 90-day notices of branch closures. Martin believes the transition will be a smooth one, as many of the closing branches are very close to branches that will stay open.

Employees were notified of the changes in January, Martin said — and no one will lose their jobs.

“It should be seamless for the customers,” Martin said. “The people they’re used to dealing with are still going to be there, at a different branch.”

Martin said the company will need the same number of employees, as the same volume of customers is expected. Some employees lost through natural attrition since January have not been replaced.

Decisions as to which branches to close were made using factors including ease of access, traffic patterns, deposit volumes and construction quality, Martin said. Local decision-makers Rusty Stephenson and Keith Herron, heads of the Tennessee and Middle Tennessee banking groups respectively, played a significant role in the decisions.

One of the branches being closed is the newly opened Regions Music Row branch, built only last year to cater to the music and entertainment industries. Lisa Harless, senior vice president at the Music Row AmSouth branch, said the 7,000-square-foot Roundabout Plaza bank building was constructed with “growth and expansion” anticipated.

The building will now employ about 20 people, including soon-to-be former staff members of the 4,000-square-foot Regions Music Row office.

“We didn’t need a small facility one block away,” Harless said.

Whether the moves will have an impact on Nashville’s tight banking job market — where prominent community banks like Pinnacle make a point of standing ready to hire experienced bankers disgruntled with corporate life — remains to be seen, say those close to the industry.

Closing branches:

Eighteen local Regions and AmSouth bank branches will close in October.

AmSouth branches:

2341 Murfreesboro Road, Nashville

1477 N. Mt. Juliet Road, Mt. Juliet

130 West Northfield Blvd., Murfreesboro

700 N. Garden St., Columbia

357 W. Main St., McMinnville

Regions branches:

21 Music Square West, Nashville

3325 West End Ave., Nashville

5200 Charlotte Ave., Nashville

2618 Old Lebanon Road, Nashville

401 Union St., Nashville

925 Bell Road, Antioch

500 Corporate Centre Drive, Franklin

12 Fifth Ave. N. Franklin

706 S. Church St., Murfreesboro

1787 Gallatin Road, Madison

223 East Main, Hendersonville

502 Madison St., Clarksville

1436 W. Main St., Lebanon