Lake Shore Bank to close Jamestown branch

The last day of business for the branch, at 115 E. Fourth St., will be Sept. 27, said Kim Liddell, the bank’s CEO.

The branch will be consolidated with a Lake Shore location 3 miles away in Lakewood. The bank hopes to place the four affected employees in other jobs, Liddell said.

Liddell said the decision to close the location was driven by its low level of deposits, which he said have been $18 million or less since its debut in the 1990s.

Based on a one-day snapshot provided a year ago by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., the Jamestown branch had $16.9 million in deposits, while the Lakewood branch had $42.9 million.

The Lakewood location has a larger facility to serve customers, and the two branches are supervised by the same branch manager, Liddell said.

“Lake Shore isn’t exiting Jamestown,” Liddell said. “We’re just putting ourselves in a better position to serve the customers.”

Following the closing, Lake Shore will have four branches in Chautauqua County and six branches in Erie County.