BMO Harris Bank has announced plans to close its only Duluth branch at the end of February. It will continue to maintain a presence in the Twin Ports, however, with a branch office still operating in Superior at 1425 Tower Ave.
"We did make a decision to close our Duluth branch due to low customer volume," confirmed Jim Kappel, a BMO Harris spokesman.
Kappel said the Chicago-based bank has closed almost 30 branches in the past year in keeping with a national trend.
"With all the various mobile and online banking options available to people today, we're seeing a lower utilization of branch office operations, and that's led to some consolidation," he said, estimating that about 1,300 bank branch offices closed nationwide between July 2012 and July 2013.
Kappel said BMO Harris is providing its customers and employees with four months' notice of the closure.
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Kappel said he did not know exactly how many people were employed by the Duluth branch office at 2501 London Road but said the company would meet with employees individually about their future.
BMO Harris operates more than 600 bank branches in Illinois, Indiana, Arizona, Missouri, Minnesota, Kansas,
Nevada, Florida and
Wisconsin.
The London Road branch office opened in 2002 as M&I Bank. At the time it was operated by Marshall & Ilsley Corp., based in Milwaukee. But the bank chain was purchased by the Bank of Montreal in 2011 and its name subsequently was changed to BMO Harris.
What will become of the bank building on London Road remains to be seen. Kappel said BMO Harris continues to explore its options. The 4,140-square foot structure was built in 2002, and the property has a total estimated market value of $934,000, according to records filed with the St. Louis County assessor's office.
