Wells Fargo Will Close 4 More Crocker Branches

Wells Fargo Bank, which acquired Crocker National Bank last spring, has closed two Crocker branches in Orange County and expects to close four more in its consolidation of branches. But few of the Crocker employees will face layoffs, said Rick Larrabure, senior vice president and manager of Wells Fargo’s southern division.

Because both banks imposed a hiring freeze when the merger agreement was first announced Feb. 7, he said, the attrition rate has been running far ahead of the need for layoffs. Only 18 of 1,200 employees in the southern division have been laid off since the merger, he said.

The two Crocker branches already closed were in Anaheim and Santa Ana. Two Crocker branches in Orange will be consolidated into two Wells Fargo branches in that city within the next four weeks, said Larrabure, and Crocker commercial banking offices in Santa Ana and Newport Beach will be moved into two nearby Wells Fargo commercial banking centers on Nov. 7.

Signs at the remaining Crocker branches in the county also are expected to be replaced with Wells Fargo signs by the end of the year, bank spokesman Wes Lockwood said.

Wells Fargo is closing about 50 Wells branches and 70 Crocker branches statewide.