DOTHAN, Ala.–Five Star Credit Union here has purchased the Gander Mountain store building here to become its new headquarters. The credit union paid $4 million for the facility.
The city is now reviewing the second draft of floor plans for the headquarters, Tyler Beck, Five Star senior vice president and chief operating officer, told the Dothan Eagle. The CU hopes to transition into the new building by the second quarter of next year, Beck added.
Mike Bridges, VP-marketing and communications with Five Star CU, told the publication the credit union began to search for a new home after space at its current North Foster Street headquarters became limited.
“We’re a growing credit union,” Bridges was quoted as saying. “We had been (in downtown) for a while. As we opened new branches and expanded a lot of our products and services, we started to see our open area shrink.”
Unable to find space downtown that met its needs, Five Star turned to the Gander Mountain store, even though it does not look like a typical financial institution’s headquarters, due to the paved parking lot, location and size, the Dothan Eagle reported.
“Even though $4 million may sound like a lot, based on what we’re getting with the buildout of the parking lot, the structure that is already there … we felt like it was a really good deal,” Beck told the publication.
Physical Reminder of Difference
“The difference between banks and credit unions is something you hear all the time,” Bridges added in a comment to the Eagle. “Credit unions are different, and that’s another way that you’re going to see that we’re different. We don’t need to look like a bank building.”
Five Star CU said it is seeking to incorporate the open-air nature of the building into the interior design of the building.
The credit union told the Dothan Eagle Five Star will also benefit from the space in one other way – branding. Beck said Five Star’s perception in the public eye grew when the institution recently opened two more branches in Dothan and another in Blakely, Georgia, and that will only improve with the relocation to a more visible area, the Eagle reported.
Camping World Holdings, parent to Gander Mountain after buying the company out of bankruptcy, announced numerous store closings but is now reopening 69 of the stores under the name Gander Outdoors.