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BofA taps Publix for store locations
By JEFF HARRINGTON © St. Petersburg Times, published November 3, 2000 After three years of split loyalties, Bank of America Corp. has picked Publix over Winn-Dixie as its exclusive supermarket partner in Florida. The Charlotte, N.C., megabank plans to pull its in-store banking centers out of 66 Winn-Dixie locations across the state and add 20 in-store centers inside Publix stores by April. It currently has 91 centers in Publix locations. The switch, revealed late Thursday, is part of a sweeping realignment under new Florida president Cathy Bessant in which the bank also is adding 400 new positions and creating seven new stand-alone branches over the next several months. The Florida expansion comes after Bank of America said in July it would fire as many as 10,000 workers nationwide to cut costs. The bank, the largest in Florida with nearly a fourth of all deposits, currently has about 800 branches and 20,000 employees statewide. Bank officials alternately described the changes as a "redeployment" and a "reinvestment of resources" to better serve customers. "This strategy demonstrates our commitment to invest resources in markets where our customers will receive the greatest benefit," Bessant said in a statement. Bank of America (then called NationsBank) inherited the dual supermarket situation in early 1998 with the acquisition of Barnett Banks, then the largest bank in Florida. Barnett had a relationship with Publix; NationsBank was linked with rival Winn-Dixie. In August 1998, NationsBank struck a deal to stay with both supermarket chains. But Bessant, who became president this fall, preferred Publix, saying its stores are in high-growth areas such as South Florida that match the markets where Bank of America wants to expand. At least one of the 20 in-store centers will be in the Tampa Bay area inside a Publix opening later this year in Riverview, bank spokeswoman Angela Ashley said. The bank's current Winn-Dixie locations include seven stores in Pinellas County and five stores in Hillsborough County. It has 17 Publix banking centers in the two counties. Winn-Dixie officials could not be reached late Thursday for comment.
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From the Times Business report
From the AP
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