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Competition in Close Quarters
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Saul, who rarely speaks to the media, did not return phone calls and neither did members of his executive team.
Hill, meanwhile, said the high prices he is paying to build branches in Washington is not a concern because "our business model works. . . . We will pay the most for the best sites because the best sites generate the most same-store sales growth. That's what we do better than anyone."
Through rapid branching and a focus on capturing retail consumer accounts, Hill turned a tiny, suburban New Jersey community bank into one of the East's fastest-expanding banks, currently with more than 400 branches and 179 in development from New York to Florida. Commerce, which has one branch in the District and three in the Virginia suburbs, plans 10 more in the region this year and 200 in the future.
Nowhere is the competition more evident than in Potomac Village, where zoning laws have reduced available retail space into a dense shopping area at the corner of River and Falls roads. When BB&T moves into Potomac Promenade,12 full-service branches will stand within 300 yards of one another, in addition to four stand-alone ATMs and, for good measure, a large Morgan Stanley brokerage.
"I know personally of six or eight others that want to be here," said Hendrix at Potomac Promenade. "But I think we may have reached our saturation."
Adam Greenberg, co-owner of Potomac Village Deli and the Potomac Pizza next door, said he decided to close the deli because it wasn't big enough to support his growing catering operation. When Hendrix learned Greenberg wanted to break his lease, he said all he had to do was put a call in to BB&T.
"I was pretty surprised to hear another bank was moving in here," Greenberg said. "I guess everybody needs a bank, but do they need three banks right next to each other?"
Staff writer David Murray contributed to this report.
