19 Akron area bank branches to close

The Huntington branch in Cuyahoga Falls at 2875 State Road, which opened in December 2014, will be among 107 Huntington and FirstMerit branches closed after Huntington’s $3.4 billion takeover of FirstMerit.

The Falls branch is across the street from a FirstMerit branch, which will remain open.

The downtown Akron Huntington branch at Market and Main streets will close. So will the one in Montrose attached to a Malley’s Chocolates.

Other closures: Brunswick, Canal Fulton, Canton, Cuyahoga Falls, Hartville, Hudson, Kent, Massillon, Macedonia, Medina, North Canton, Rittman, Stow, Streetsboro, Twinsburg and Wooster.

No Huntington branches within Giant Eagle stores will be closed.

To check out Betty Lin-Fisher’s article in the Beacon Journal, click on http://www.ohio.com/huntington-bank-will-close-107-huntington-and-firstmerit-branches-20-in-the-akron-area-as-part-of-proposed-merger-1.667890

Mickey Mouse move?

Mickey Porter, once a popular columnist for the Akron Beacon Journal before his retirement, instead becomes an angry man-in-the-street quote for a BJ story by business writer Betty Lin-Fisher about FirstMerit Corp. closing 16 branches in four states, including seven in Ohio and four in the Akron area.

Mickey is miffed about the closing in Copley, where he’s banked for five decades. Others are in Ravenna, Massilon and Strongsville.

To quote the Mickey: “I’m livid. Frankly, they’ve got a lot of people in Copley and a lot of people use that bank, and it’s going to be terrible. It’s terrible for me. If another bank relocates there, I’m going to go there.”

If he stays with FirstMerit, Mickey will have to go to Fairlawn or Montrose. 

All 16 branches will close April 30.

Last summer, FirstMerit closed 26 branches, including in the Merriman Valley of Akron.

To read the entire article, click on http://www.ohio.com/news/break-news/firstmerit-to-close-16-branches-including-copley-township-ravenna-strongsville-massillon-1.562213