THUNDER BAY — More than a century after it was opened, the CIBC branch in Thunder Bay's south core will close its doors in October.
The vice-chair of the Fort William Business District, Shelby Ch'ng, calls the decision "unfortunate" but not unexpected.
"We're seeing a trend with banks, in general, pulling out of their brick-and-mortar places," Ch'ng said Wednesday. "I don't think Thunder Bay is immune...just the technological changes, with online banking, and everything so mobile these days."
In a statement provided to Tbnewswatch, CIBC spokesperson Jason Wesley said "currently about 80 per cent of our client transactions take place outside of a banking centre, through online, mobile and telephone banking. As a result of this shift, we've made adjustments to our network that includes a small number of banking centre closures."
Wesley said the Victoria and Brodie location will be consolidated with the Memorial and Harbour branch, and client accounts will be automatically transferred there on Oct. 12.
He said the four staff members affected by the closure will be redeployed to other CIBC locations in Thunder Bay.
According to Wesley, the south core branch first opened on Jan. 1, 1907.
Ch'ng said she's sorry to see it shutting down.
"The south core is a very tough place to do business as it is," she said.
But she added that there are numerous commercial buildings in the south core that currently are "completely full and operating quite well."
