{"id":17112,"date":"2019-11-27T16:07:52","date_gmt":"2019-11-27T21:07:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.portlandmonthly.com\/portmag\/?p=17112"},"modified":"2020-01-02T13:20:55","modified_gmt":"2020-01-02T18:20:55","slug":"the-cool-table","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.portlandmonthly.com\/portmag\/the-cool-table\/","title":{"rendered":"The Cool Table"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" style=\"border: none; width: 100%; height: 450px;\" src=\"\/\/e.issuu.com\/embed.html?backgroundColor=%23d2d2d2&amp;backgroundColorFullscreen=%23d2d2d2&amp;d=dec19_flipbook_for_web&amp;hideIssuuLogo=true&amp;pageNumber=32&amp;u=portlandmagazine\" width=\"300\" height=\"150\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<h2 class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Which new branch designs <b>excite depositors<\/b>?<br \/>\n<b>Local banks<\/b> flirt with beyond-the-usual.<\/span><\/h2>\n<p class=\"p1\">December 2019<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><em>By Kyle Battle<\/em><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-17148\" src=\"http:\/\/www.portlandmonthly.com\/portmag\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/DEC19-Banks-300x180.jpg\" alt=\"Bangor Savings Bank on Marginal Way\" width=\"300\" height=\"180\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.portlandmonthly.com\/portmag\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/DEC19-Banks-300x180.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.portlandmonthly.com\/portmag\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/DEC19-Banks-200x120.jpg 200w, https:\/\/www.portlandmonthly.com\/portmag\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/DEC19-Banks.jpg 500w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/>You walk into a bank, deposit some cash, grab a cup of coffee, and pet a horse on your way out. Well, not a live horse, but a vintage carousel horse from Funtown Splashtown at Kennebunk\u2019s <strong>Norway Savings Bank<\/strong>. After all, when we think \u201cbank,\u201d we think \u201cfun,\u201d right?<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\"><strong><span class=\"s1\">BANKING AS THEATER<\/span><span class=\"s1\"><br \/>\n<\/span><\/strong><span class=\"s1\">Norway Savings is one among many Maine banks adding spice to the mix. <em>The Wall Street Journal<\/em> says, \u201cThe days of boring brick and mortar, mono-colored walls and ceilings, and stuffy furniture are fading into obscurity. Lobbies are filled with refreshment stations, glass walls, and islands in lieu of teller desks.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p5\"><span class=\"s1\">Feng shui consultant Jini Rayne of <strong>Sacred Landscapes<\/strong> says the secret is to blend intangibles with tangibles. \u201cWith any space, the entrance is very important. It\u2019s where you make your first impression. You want good hardware on the door\u2014it\u2019s like shaking hands with the location. The space should feel good as soon as you walk in. Landscapes are calming. Nature is good, so art that depicts the colors of nature is good in feng shui. Abstract art is less healing.\u201d Dress codes, anyone? \u201cBankers should wear blue because it builds confidence. Green is the color of growth, and you want your money to grow.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p7\"><span class=\"s1\">A<\/span><span class=\"s1\">t Norway Savings in Auburn, customers are greeted in a bright foyer with the natural greens and blues of Norway\u2019s logo detailing the walls and ceiling. \u201cThe Norway Savings Bank logo is a lake and mountains with green and blue together. We want to tie into the environmental aesthetic,\u201d says Darci Hamm, executive vice president of retail. \u201cThe space is welcoming, regardless of its necessity,\u201d says Karen Hakala, senior vice president of marketing. \u201cThere\u2019s a sitting area with a fireplace, engaging music, and even video chat at the drive-through teller windows.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\"><span class=\"s1\"><strong>MAKING CHANGE<\/strong><b><br \/>\n<\/b><\/span><span class=\"s1\">F<\/span><span class=\"s1\">eng shui designer Carol Daigneault has helped \u201cover a dozen\u201d banks across Maine with their interior transformations. \u201cPublic versus private [space] is definitely a consideration,\u201d Daigneault says. \u201cFeng shui considers the flow of things.\u201d Your guided experience starts as early as \u201cthe traffic pattern of getting into the parking lot, the drive-through, and the teller window\u2014it all matters.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\"><span class=\"s1\"><strong>TEAR DOWN THAT WALL!<\/strong><b><br \/>\n<\/b><\/span><span class=\"s1\">\u201cThe idea is to set up a more collaborative experience between the customer and the teller instead of creating a wall of separation,\u201d says Jason Donovan, facilities manager for <strong>Bangor Savings Bank<\/strong>. \u201cFor our location on Marginal Way, we have a small lot. So we use a lot of glass and natural light to make it feel larger and open. We went with a barstool and beverage area in the lobby. I\u2019ve walked in and seen people chatting, taking a break, and drinking some coffee. At this particular building, the windows all glow blue at night. We chose to give the building a little pop.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\"><span class=\"s1\"><strong>THE ONLY BARS\u00a0ARE COFFEE BARS<\/strong><b><br \/>\n<\/b><\/span><span class=\"s1\">\u201cYou can take care of all your banking needs over the phone or through your web browser,\u201d Hakala says. \u201cMany people only go to their bank when they have important events in their life.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p5\"><span class=\"s1\">Carousel horses and coffee bars aside, \u201cIt\u2019s a long-term exercise to figure out how to grow our brand with retail consumers across everything we do,\u201d says PNC chief executive Bill Demchak in <em>The Wall Street Journal<\/em><i>.<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\"><strong><span class=\"s1\">DEPOSITORS ARE\u00a0BIG; IT&#8217;S\u00a0THE SCREENS\u00a0THAT GOT SMALL.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"p7\"><span class=\"s1\">T<\/span><span class=\"s1\">echnology is going to drive everything, big-time,\u201d says Karen Rand, interior designer at <strong>WBRC Architects and Engineers<\/strong>. \u201cI think we will see spaces shrink as things become more mobile. In commercial scenarios, you\u2018re going to see smaller footprints. You\u2019re going to see more virtual reality. Call centers are becoming equipped with cameras and a background screen so you can interact face-to-face with everybody.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p9\"><span class=\"s1\"><em>To see breakout advantages of Maine banks &amp; credit unions, visit<\/em>\u00a0<strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.portlandmonthly.com\/portmag\/2019\/11\/banks2019\/\">HERE.<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Banks branch out with creative interior designs.<br \/>\nBy Kyle Battle<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":17147,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[587,586,590,375,584,585,589,588],"class_list":["post-17112","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","tag-bangor-savings-bank","tag-feng-shui","tag-funtown-splashtown","tag-interior-design","tag-norway-savings-bank","tag-sacred-landscapes","tag-wall-street-journal","tag-wbrc"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.portlandmonthly.com\/portmag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17112","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.portlandmonthly.com\/portmag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.portlandmonthly.com\/portmag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.portlandmonthly.com\/portmag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.portlandmonthly.com\/portmag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17112"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.portlandmonthly.com\/portmag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17112\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17275,"href":"https:\/\/www.portlandmonthly.com\/portmag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17112\/revisions\/17275"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.portlandmonthly.com\/portmag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/17147"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.portlandmonthly.com\/portmag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17112"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.portlandmonthly.com\/portmag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17112"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.portlandmonthly.com\/portmag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17112"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}