Bank of America to close this week

After announcing in the spring that it would close its Vashon branch this fall, Bank of America will close this Friday.

After announcing in the spring that it would close its Vashon branch this fall, Bank of America will close this Friday.

Doors will shut for the last time at 2 p.m., said Barbara Rice, the branch manager, who has been with the bank more than 20 years.

Employees were given an opportunity to stay with the company, Bank of America spokeswoman Britney Sheehan said last spring. On Monday, however, Rice said she did not believe any of the branch’s four employees will remain in other positions.

Sheehan did not return a call for comment last week.

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The closing of the Vashon branch comes at a time of extensive restructuring at the large bank, which acquired troubled mortgage lender Countrywide Financial last summer and investment bank Merrill Lynch in January. In 2012, the bank announced it would cut 12 percent of its branches in the next few years, according to the Wall Street Journal, and The Seattle Times recently reported Bank of America has shed several more branches by selling 51 branches in Western states.

By year’s end, the Shelton-based Our Community Credit Union (OCCU) is expected to fill the building Bank of America is vacating. It will be the second credit union to find a home on Vashon within three years’ time, but will be able to serve businesses, unlike the Puget Sound Cooperative Credit Union, which is tailored to serving individuals and families.

OCCU may also begin offering some services before it opens, Brian Fisher, the CEO and president said last fall.