A new Chase Bank was approved for Gloucester Township, to take over a former Columbia Bank building in the Acme Shopping Center on Cross Keys.
The bank building is positioned on the side of the shopping center and sits along Williamstown-Erial Road, directly next to Taco Bell.
Directly across from the proposed Chase Bank is a Wawa, and Target is directly behind the Wawa.
Representatives from JP Morgan Chase appeared before the Planning Board where they presented their plans to make the property ready for a Chase Bank Branch to open.
The building appears to be in good shape and while the overall cosmetic changes aren’t really part of the Planning Board meeting certain aspects did require the boards approval.
In the plans as part of the rebranding are minor changes for ADA requirements, signage, lighting and trash enclosure changes. Several of the changes were at the request of town planners who work with applicants ahead of the presentation, to ensure the project meets current standards.
Lighting standards would be upgraded to meet current State codes.
They will be relocating the handicapped parking to the Williamstown-Erial Road side of the building, as that is the shortest path to what will be the main doorways.
And a new dumpster location will be created.
Of course signage would be updated to show Chase Bank branding on the building.
This was a fairly easy project to approve as Chase is looking to reuse the building for the exact purpose it was originally developed, and they agreed to update aspects to today’s standards.
Chase Bank – Growing National and Philadelphia Presence
Chase first entered the Philadelphia market about five years ago, and already has approximately 50 branches in the region.
They announced in August of 2021 that they now had a bank branch in in all of the lower 48 states.
They went on to say they were the first national bank to have a retail presence in all of the contiguous United States!
While we see other area bank branches closing, you may wonder why would Chase be opening new branches?! Well their strategy is actually a little bit different than what we are used to.
Well first you have to consider that despite an nationally known name, up until 5 years ago they did not have Philadelphia area branches, so they had to start somewhere!
And our metro area wasn’t the only one without branches.
So Chase targeted building out a full national presence for the retail branches, opening one in every state (focused on large commercial areas)
Being new to many markets, they can be smart about not overwhelming any one area with too many branches… especially when you consider today’s changing banking marketplace.
Compare that to long standing banks in our area such as Wells Fargo and TD Bank, which have long made this area a core market for them.
Those other banks built a network of many banks in South Jersey, and have been trimming back locations to meet today’s online driven demands.
Even though I’ve written about a few of their locations opening, in the core 42Freeway area they really only have branches in Woodbury on Route 45, and a brand new building in Glassboro.
Other South Jersey locations are in Camden, Marlton, Cinnaminson, Moorestown, Mount Laurel and Willingboro.
Currently the Woodbury branch (which also was new construction) is listed as temporarily closed. I don’t know exactly why that is and I am trying to find out.
With the current placement of the branches, and the new one planned for Gloucester Township… you can see how they are covering our 42 freeway area but in a much less dense approach.
Most of these locations have been all new construction and its a smart move to reutilize an existing bank building when the location meets their needs.
Link and Location
Chase Bank – Cross Keys (Approved but not open)
505 Berlin Crosskeys Road
Sicklerville NJ 08081
Chase Bank Website