ATLANTA-Credit unions with only a few or even just one SEG could be in particularly precarious positions as the nation remains in the grips of a nasty recession.
Collateral damage from Macy's announcement that it would cut 7,000 jobs nationwide, reorganize its regional headquarters and close down a number of scores has caused serious collateral damage in Georgia. Retail Employees Credit Union will take it on the chin as 850 employees at the Macy's Atlanta headquarters face unemployment, many of them RECU members, and three of the four credit union's branch locations in the area will be shut down.
"What we're focusing on is increasing our branch network and ATM network for our membership," said VP Adam Marlowe. "It's a big priority for us because most of our locations are in Macy's stores and many of them are closing."
Under its arrangement with Macy's, RECU bases its operations at the retailer's locations in Georgia, Alabama and South Carolina. Marlowe is confident that member service will not be greatly disrupted as the $29 million institution has several partnerships in place that give members access to 50,000 surcharge-free ATMs and 3,500 service center locations across the world. RECU also plans to continue to operate from a Georgia-based headquarters.
Macy's associates at the soon-to-be shuttered stores will be compensated until April 30. The general decline of retail across the country during the recession led to rumors that a number of stores in the Atlanta area would be closed, so RECU was already gearing up for that possibility, Marlowe pointed out.
"It wasn't something that completely caught us off guard. But it never really rings true until it gets here and it comes home," he conceded.
