Patchogue bank makes space for coffee shop, too

It's not hard these days to get a cup of coffee at a bank, but at Bridgehampton National Bank's new branch in Patchogue, it'll be possible to get coffee beans roasted on the spot, a poetry reading or a place to hang out with free wireless Internet.

To get to the bank's 18th branch through the front door, customers will have to walk through the Roast Coffee & Tea Trading Company, scheduled to open for business next week. The bank branch's opening was Tuesday.

Bank president Kevin O'Connor joked that the idea came about because "I came here one day to check on construction and I couldn't find a cup of coffee."

But he and other bank officials have merged coffee shops with bank branches before. The bank's Westhampton Beach branch has a Hampton Coffee shop that has a separate entrance. And when James Manseau, the chief retail banking officer, was at North Fork Bank before Capital One took it over, he helped place a Starbucks inside that bank's Manorville branch.

"For some reason, coffee shops and banks work," Manseau said. "It's a matter of routines. People bank in the morning, and they want a cup of coffee in the morning. They bank in the afternoon, and that's a good time for a pick-me-up."

There were also other reasons the bank, which has $970 million in assets, leased the most visible part of its new branch to a new business. The space was too big for the bank to use by itself, and it figured a coffee shop would draw customers in the door. And leasing the space to a new business reinforces the bank's message that it is "partnering with a local business, which is what we're all about," O'Connor said.

The bank put out the word and village officials helped the bank's real estate agent find William Closson, a Patchogue toxicologist who had dreamed of opening a coffee shop.

"We can't say enough about Patchogue," said Kevin Santacroce, the bank's chief lending officer, who praised not only the village's help in finding Closson, but also its help in speeding necessary permits.

Closson said he's thrilled with the space and happy with the bank's look - exposed brick walls and a pressed-tin ceiling. He said he'll be open daily before the bank opens and long after it closes, and hopes his shop will be a meeting place downtown.

As for the village, Mayor Paul Pontieri said he was happy with both new arrivals.

"Banks on Main Street are the best thing in the world," he said, adding that they are good community neighbors. "Main Street needs money."