Close That Branch Already
- Branch Transformation
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If there is a silver lining in the wake of all that has transpired over the past many months, it’s an opportunity to revisit strategies, tactics, and decisions that seemed like a good idea in early 2020, but now may be a bit “dated.”
When looking across the business, and specifically the retailer landscape, bankruptcy seems to be declared every day. The optics of the word are bad, but the reality is, most companies declaring bankruptcy are not closing for good and liquidating (Chapter 7). They are rather looking to restructure, move debt off their books, and use a Chapter 11 filing as a way to aggressively restructure.
Without jumping ahead to doom and gloom scenarios, perhaps the time is right to make aggressive moves.
And if there ever was a time to make aggressive decisions, the time is now.
When thinking of a plan to optimize your branch network, there are 3 definitive steps. The first, is to close those branches that are simply not performing anymore. That is the focus of this article. After that, the next two steps are developing your new branch prototype and growing your branch network.
So this brings us to your branches, more specifically, those branches that are draining profits and sitting on your books as a black eye in an otherwise healthy branch network.
You know which ones those are.
And you know what to do.
It’s time to close those branches.
You shouldn’t perceive branch closures as any different than branch openings – as they are part of running a branch network. Any organization with growth plans needs to understand that what was once a great branch may no longer be so and decisions need to be made.
The silver lining in closing a branch is that you can likely dedicate resources and expenses to a new branch. Swap an old branch in a declining Trade Area for a newer branch, in a growing market.
But it doesn’t need to be a guessing game.
LEVEL5 offers varying Consulting packages to assess current branch performance, with definitive recommendations on which branch to keep, relocate, or close.
Any retail executive would tell you a foundational strategy of a company’s growth plan is to open stores aggressively, knowing that some of them will not work out. Regardless, markets change, neighborhoods flip, with key demographics and product proclivities ebb and flow with time – and that branch on that corner in that town may simply not be cutting it any more.
The only thing that should be constant in your branch network is change.
Let the Consulting Group at LEVEL5 assess your current branch network. We’ll identify performance metrics and be able to develop 10 year pro-formas.
The facts will speak for themselves.
The question is: What will you do about it?