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This is bad news for Winston-Salem, and could be very bad news, depending on how many jobs eventually move to Charlotte. So sad that W-S has had to absorb so many of these blows through the years.
Yeah, this sucks for W-S...and probably eventually for their banking customers as well. But it makes sense for them to be based in Charlotte - at least it's still in NC and not in Atlanta.
Another Triad Headquarters gone. Greensboro knows the pain when it loss Jefferson-Pilot. In Greensboro's case when Lincoln Financial took over they left the insurance Headquarters in Greensboro.
I knew it was a matter of time though. It will be the second time Winston-Salem loses a bank to Charlotte. The last time Wachovia merged with First Union and moved to Charlotte. Since then Wells Fargo acquired Charlotte based Wachovia and left the Queen City.
I'm guessing there goes at least some of BB&T's arena/stadium naming deals, once the current deals end. At first I guess they'll carry the new bank's name, but I can't see the new bank continuing to dominate venue naming as BB&T has done. Of course, the likely loss of many jobs is the biggest concern.
Some additional hints about what this might mean for W-S:
"Combined company to operate under a new name and be headquartered in Charlotte, NC while maintaining significant operations and investment in Winston-Salem, NC and Atlanta, GA"
"A new corporate headquarters will be established in Charlotte, NC, including an Innovation and Technology Center to drive digital transformation. In the current home markets for both companies, the combined company will maintain the Community Banking Center in Winston-Salem, NC and the Wholesale Banking Center in Atlanta, GA."
On a personal level... as a very small, longtime BB&T customer, I have always liked the fact that BB&T maintained, for the most part, a culture that reflected its small town roots, even as it grew and grew. Now, I'm not so sure. I may be looking for a new bank in the near future.
This has been a trend in the Triad for the past decade. With exception to a few new Headquarters, we have seen a number of companies leave the Triad. VF Corp was the most recent. However a spin off company for the Jeans division will be headquartered in Greensboro. But BB&T leaving Winston-Salem will hurt. It the only real significant Headquarters there besides Reynolds American. Cities use to count on banks for economic security. Unless its Charlotte, New York or similar financial cities don't bank on it, no pun intended.
On a personal level... as a very small, longtime BB&T customer, I have always liked the fact that BB&T maintained, for the most part, a culture that reflected its small town roots, even as it grew and grew. Now, I'm not so sure. I may be looking for a new bank in the near future.
I've never seen service improve when two banks merge. It usually gets worse. In rare cases, it maintains the status quo, but even then if banks continue to merge, service begins to diminish as Bank A merges with Bank B, Bank B merges with Bank C, and the effect snowballs.
I'm guessing there goes at least some of BB&T's arena/stadium naming deals, once the current deals end.
It's possible, but several of those deals have a long way to go, and BB&T has its name on LOTS of sports venues.
The naming rights for BB&T Ballpark (Dash) don't expire until 2025 (15 years starting 2010). BB&T Point (in HP) was a 15 year naming deal starting 2019, so a long way to go there. The WFU BB&T Field naming deal was 10 years starting in 2007, so it's technically expired, but the name is still there. Not sure what the underlying deal is. And BB&T Stadium (A&T) should bear the name until 2033 (15 years starting 2018).
There are also BB&T-named sports venues in Kentucky (Highland Heights), Pennsylvania (Williamsport), and Florida (Sunrise). And SunTrust has the naming rights for the Braves stadium (huge $10m/year deal for 25 years including exclusive presence in the surrounding Braves Battery Atlanta complex).
I guess once the merged bank settles on a name, there'll be new signs throughout.
That is truly a massive blow to winston salem and the triad, as a past resident of W-S this makes me sad.
It hits home with the same feelings and aura of the wachovia merger.
I wish they could have somehow pulled a VF and just moved a select few of the senior members, but with a move like this we could be talking a loss of thousands of jobs for the triad. While the VF move resulted in losing a headquarters, Greensboro still gained another publicly traded fortune 500 company while still retaining 98% of the jobs from VF, and aquiring 150 jobs from kansas cities Wrangler HQ. ...that's a merger done right and smart...with a good ending...and honestly, such a thing rarely happens.
But this is ridiculous, wachovia... now BB&T, Honestly never thought i'd see the day, and wish it was not true, i spent 7 years in winston salem...i know the city in and out...so this kind of pisses me off.
And the fact that the CEO is gloating by stating he wants to be where the "action is" is highly disrespectful to winston.
Charlotte keeps swallowing up banks, while WS's sister city snags every major triad economic announcement...fedex hub.. honda jet...publix...
I'm a firm beilever in using your stregnths, but winston needs to take action, because table scraps are certainly not enough.
At one point Winston Salem was The power city of NC, right up there with charlotte, i don't know...i'm just upset over this announcement, however i know winston will bounce back. But this hurts.
Last edited by YinXyang; 02-07-2019 at 05:02 PM..
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