The Wachovia branch with Wells Fargo tellers

Wachovia and Wells Fargo put a new spin on bank mergers

One Door, Two Stores

Excerpt:

A Wachovia branch in Phoenix is now home to a completely independent Wells Fargo banking center in addition to its own operations. Two separate banks share one building. Or, as the Wells Fargo-Wachovia Blog calls it, "One Door, Two Stores."

It started when a grocery store closed earlier this year, and the in-store Wells branch found itself homeless. But across the street, recently acquired Wachovia waited with open arms. Now the two banks share the building, but they remain completely independent. Two staffs, two teller lines, two vaults, even two different signs in front of the building.

Wells Fargo and Wachovia still operate their bank branches on different computer systems. When the systems merge sometime next year, the shared bank building will become exclusively a Wells Fargo store.

Comment: Unusual