Retail Store Image

 
text by Michael Fickes [Page 1] [Page 2] [Page 3] [Page 4] Photography by Eliot Neel
Banking the retail way
A banker and a store designer believe banks should
look and feel more like stores.
(...previous page) around the perimeter, and the lighting is either exposed or surface-mounted. All these things produce a gas-station look." Morrill placed a gas-station canopy over the drive-thru area in the rear of the building, but softened the look by adding architectural features to the fascia, recessing the lights, and landscaping the perimeter. He also cut the overhangs in half.

In a gas station, the canopy stops at the building proper. Here, Morrill extended the canopy over the top of the building and across the front parking lot, creating covered parking for customers. "Customers appreciate being able to stay out of the weather," he says. "In addition, since the canopy covers the building, it cuts heating and cooling costs by as much as 20 percent."

Red neon encircles the edges of the canopied roof, highlighting the textured, white exterior walls. Bright backlighted signs provide accents. In
...BANKING SATISFACTION, guaranteed...
Most banks and retailers carry on about guaranteeing satisfaction to customers. Most have no way to guarantee such guarantees.

At State Bank and Trust, NA, in Tulsa, if you complain to a teller that you had to wait too long, you set off a chain reaction of activity. "You'd be amazed at all the meetings that occur when a customer reports having to wait too long in line," says Burton E. Stacy, president and CEO. "We require that the complaint be submitted to the branch manager, who brings it up during a branch meeting. At the meeting, they talk about why the customers had to wait and think of a way to prevent it from happening again.

"Then the branch manager writes a letter to the customer, apologizing and telling the customer what the branch plans to do to prevent him or her from having to wait too long the next time he or she is in the bank. The letter then comes to me. I sign it, enclose a five-dollar bill, and mail it.

"Every Tuesday morning, we go through every complaint that arose during the past week and talk about what we did to correct the problem.

What kind of system do you use to back up your service guarantees?
the rear of the building, the drive-thru teller windows -- the only windows in the building -- feature red lattice-work.

Inside, the un-bank design continues

 across the 4,800-square-foot space. Around the perimeter, Morrill placed cozy offices for the bankers. Unlike most bank offices, these have floor-to-ceiling glass (next page...)
...WHO SAYS BANK SECURITY HAS TO FEEL LIKE PRISON SECURITY...
At the new State Bank and Trust building in Tulsa, you'll find a security system with all the modern bells and whistles: alarms, CCTV, a visible vault for safety deposit boxes, bullet-proof glass in the drive-thru teller windows, and armed guards. What you won't find is a siege mentality behind the system.

"We have armed security guards," says Larry Choate, executive vice president and sales manager at the bank. "But they dress in blue blazers, ties, and gray slacks." The guards wear badges on their lapels, so you know they work as guards, but they carry their weapons under their coats. Armed guards, after all, don't do much to enhance a retail atmosphere.

State Bank and Trust guards don't act like retired cops, either. They greet customers at the door. They direct customers to the lounge in the center of the store, pointing out the stand where you can pour yourself a cup of coffee or grab a bag of popcorn if you want. They show the kids where the toys and the lollipops are.

According to Choate, State Bank and Trust may use more closed circuit television cameras and monitors than its competitors. But the bank doesn't like to make

 people nervous about being under surveillance. You know that the cameras are watching. There's no trickery involved. But the bank's design positions most of the cameras out of the way. The design also includes a traditional alarm system, which Choate doesn't like to discuss, because, after all, it is a security system.

Another change from traditional bank security concepts involves the teller stations. Actually, State Bank and Trust doesn't use the term teller station. Taking a cue from supermarkets, State Bank calls those areas teller lines. What's the difference? At a teller station, you have to be at least average height to get more than your nose over the top of the counter. Even then, a lattice-work of bars protects the tellers and the cash they have back there.

State Bank's teller lines are three feet tall, about the same height as a check-out line in a grocery store or convenience store. That sets a different tone for dealing with tellers.

Ever wonder why traditional teller stations are positioned so high? Ask a traditional banker and he or she will tell you that it's to keep those pesky customers from reaching down into the cash drawer and grabbing a handful of money.

State Bank officials think that's a silly concern. So they eliminated it and added to the retail comforts of their bank.

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