
Photo from River Bank and Trust Facebook page
River Bank and Trust Birmingham Region President Brian Ethridge, left, and CEO Jimmy Stubbs stand in front of the future location of the bank's Birmingham region headquarters at the former CVS Pharmacy building at 1100 Montgomery Highway in Vestavia Hills, Alabama.
River Bank and Trust is relocating its Birmingham region office from the Park South Plaza in Vestavia Hills to a site about 1.3 miles north on U.S. 31.
The bank chose the former CVS Pharmacy building at 1100 Montgomery Highway, which will allow it to have a drive-through and almost double its space from 5,700 square feet to 11,000 square feet, Birmingham region President Brian Ethridge said.
Goodwyn, Mills & Cawood is working on a redesign of the building and renovation plans, and the bank hopes to begin construction by May 1, Ethridge said. “We want to be in the fourth quarter of this year,” he said.
River Bank and Trust, which is based in Prattville and has 24 locations across Alabama, expanded to the Birmingham area about 2½ years ago, Ethridge said. Park South Plaza has served as a good starting point, but the bank needed more space and wanted to have a drive-through, he said.
The current office in Park South Plaza has 17 employees based there, and the plan is to add six or seven more people at the new location, Ethridge said. River Bank and Trust also is looking to add other branches in the Birmingham area, he said.
With the advent of online banking, “the need to have a branch in every submarket is not as critical as it used to be, but it is important to have some face time with customers,” he said.
Even though people can do a lot of banking business online, “some people like to come in the bank,” Ethridge said. “A lot of people want that community. They want to know their banker, see their banker, ask them for advice.
“One thing we really excel in is personal relationships,” Ethridge said. “We want to be the kind of bank that welcomes you when you walk through the door. … We still have a real strong community focus.”
The former CVS Pharmacy building hopefully won’t look like a former pharmacy when renovations are complete, Ethridge said. “I don’t want it to look anything like a remodeled CVS.”
The entrance to the building will be moved away from the corner, and the drive-through will be moved from the back (west) of the building to the south side of the building, he said.
River Bank and Trust’s Birmingham office handles business in Jefferson, Shelby, St. Clair, Blount and Tuscaloosa counties, with about 60% of its business being commercial and 40% consumer banking, Ethridge said.
Since opening in 2006, the bank has grown its assets to more than $3 billion, according to the company’s website. For more information about River Bank and Trust, go to riverbankandtrust.com.

Photo by Jon Anderson
River Bank and Trust is relocating is Birmingham region headquarters from the Park South Plaza at 1425 Montgomery Highway, Suite 151, to the former CVS Pharmacy building shown here at 1100 Montgomery HIghway in Vestavia Hills, Alabama.