Last Updated: Saturday, October 11, 2008 10:43 AM CDT
Smith Barney closing its doors
By Heather Schaefer - REgional Editor
The Rhinelander branch of Smith Barney is about to close its doors for good.
Alex Samuelson, chief communications officer for Smith Barney in New York, has confirmed the company’s decision to close the office.
“We make real estate and capacity changes on a regular basis and this is an unfortunate decision that we feel is necessary,” Samuelson said Friday.
Samuelson had no information on how soon the Rhinelander office would close.
“I’m not going to comment on that. I don’t know the answer to that,” he said.
Samuelson said Smith Barney has no plans to service its Rhinelander clients through other means.
“We expect clients to be served by other financial advisors,” he said.
It's unclear how the closure will affect the company's Rhinelander-based employees.
Samuelson stopped short of saying the decision to close the Rhinelander office was a reaction to the current crisis in financial markets, but he did acknowledge the market climate has put pressure on the company.
“It’s certainly an unprecedented time in the financial markets,” Samuelson said. “We’re always looking for ways to intelligently use our resources and we’ll continue to do that.”
According to an Oct. 8 article published by Investmentnews.com, Smith Barney may close as many as 40 branch offices across the country. The article states Smith Barney’s parent company, Citigroup Inc., is “streamlining its retail management structure” in an effort to strengthen its financial standing.
In recent days Citigroup has lost a fight to acquire struggling banking giant Wachovia.
According to the New York Times, Citigroup bosses decided late Thursday to concede a merger between Wachovia and Wells Fargo. The company is seeking $60 billion damages from Wachovia, which it claims rejected a buyout deal brokered by the federal government.
Smith Barney, which provides brokerage, investment banking and asset management services to corporations and individuals, has a long history in Rhinelander.
According to Daily News archives, Smith Barney has been part of the local business landscape, in some form, since the 1960s. The first office was above the First National Bank of Rhinelander,(now Associated Bank). The office then moved to 6A South Brown Street and finally to its current location in a restored Soo Line Railroad Depot in 1984.
The train station building is available for purchase. According to online listings, the 6,100 square foot building comes with a private parking lot has a listing price of $1,000,000. Smith Barney has been leasing space in the building from Debyles Inc. According to online listings, the building had been put up for sale prior to Smith Barney’s decision to vacate the space.
(Daily News Reporter Giles Morris contributed to this story)
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Mike S. wrote on Oct 11, 2008 2:41 PM: