THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, July 18, 1996 TAG: 9607180317
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: D1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY TOM SHEAN, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: 47 lines
The biggest community bank in Hampton Roads will change its name at its 21 branches on Monday from Commerce Bank to BB&T, the identity of its counterparts in North and South Carolina.
BB&T isn't widely recognized, a market study conducted by the bank's parent showed. And the bank already has run into opposition from some Commerce customers and shareholders who dislike the change, said G. Robert Aston Jr., president and chief executive officer of the Virginia Beach-based bank.
Aston told a gathering of shareholders in Commerce's parent company, Southern National Corp., that someone confronted him earlier this week and said: ``I don't know what (BB&T) stands for, and I don't like it.''
But Aston, who orchestrated a decade-long expansion of Commerce before it was sold, said the bank is determined to hold onto its customers during the name change. It plans to spend $14 million to promote BB&T's identity in Virginia and the Carolinas.
Organized in 1978, Commerce embarked on a program of rapid expansion in 1985 and built a network of 21 branches before being sold in January 1995.
While recounting the bank's history, Aston said Commerce earned $6 million during the first half of 1996 and had assets of $760 million at the end of June.
BB&T, an acronym for Branch Bank & Trust, is the name of the principal bank subsidiaries of Southern National, which is based in Winston-Salem, N.C.
When Southern National and BB&T Financial Corp. - two companies of equal size - merged last year, the holding company kept the Southern National name, and its banking units in the Carolinas took the BB&T name.
During the gathering for local shareholders, Southern National chairman and chief executive officer John A. Allision said he expects to push the company's Virginia operations beyond Hampton Roads.
``We're particularly interested in Virginia,'' Allison said. ``We've talked to a lot of people, but, frankly, the prices that sellers want are higher than we want to pay.''
Allison also said he expects Southern National's insurance agency to establish a statewide presence in Virginia.
While attempting to broaden its geographic reach beyond the Carolinas, Southern National has been diversifying its services. Earlier this year, it agreed to acquire Regional Acceptance Corp., a Greenville, N.C.-based finance company that specializes in auto loans for high-risk borrowers. ``This allows us to provide auto dealers with a broader credit line and help them sell cars,'' Allison said. by CNB