Despite mailing notifications to all valued customers at a favorable time, the discontinuation of the Washington Mutual West Fordham branch at 18 W. Fordham Rd., in the Bronx, could not seem more precipitous to the all the doubting Thomases, customers.
“Oh, my God. I cannot believe they went through with shutting it down,” one customer said to another just days after its scheduled closing, February 17, 2009, outside of the bank with its logo covered up in white sheets and a “retail space available” sign posted on the window right next to an ironic WaMu ad that states “saving is personal.”
West Fordham is the starting gate for the abundant shopping center and its periodic shoppers who race against shopaholics for the prize of a variety of desired items, while the WaMu West Fordham branch was their jockey.
“Continuing to shop here is up in the air with that WaMu now closed. I, and most of my friends, have a bank account with WaMu. Before shopping, we would go to that WaMu to take out money without having to pay any ATM fee, or deal with the inconvenience of walking very far,” Andrea Parker, a 27-year-old and lifelong resident of West Fordham, said a week after it was discontinued.
There is another WaMu branch in town, 257 East Fordham Road. However, it is bordering on desertion from public transportation, as there are no train stops nearby, and the sight of a bus is more plausible to be a mirage than an actual bus.
“Consolidation was the cause for the closing of the branch on W. Fordham Rd., as WaMu continues the process of becoming Chase. This branch, East Fordham, will remain open, while employees who were transferred from the other branch will continue to earn the same pay, and customers’ convenience will remain existent,” said Michael Delgado, Assistant Financial Center Manager of the East Fordham branch.
Uh….. no. The convenience ended as the branch’s doors closed for the last time. I have lived a block away from West Fordham for almost a decade now, and the convenience that West Fordham branch’s location provided to this community is just about irreplaceable. There is a bus stop and a train stop on the corner of the street where the bank was located, and the branch was right before all of the popular stores.
“There was a Chase bank on this street before the WaMu opened up, so I guess Chase does not like this area. But, I believe it is just a matter of time before another bank notices the necessity for a bank on this street,” said China Skelt, a 25-year-old, optimistic community resident.
It is alarming that banks are closing, especially in a shopping district. Sad to see how it’s making it inconvenient for the locals that uses it.