Close to Home

Atrios has been keeping a running tab on which banks are being gobbled up by the FDIC, and that's where I first saw the news that the Bank of Lincolnwood was being taken over. I don't have any money at the Bank of Lincolnwood, but I pass it every day on my way to work. (I'm linking to the locations webpage because the home page has info about the FDIC takeover). The main office of my employer is just down the block (although I work at a separate office a few miles further away). The Bank of Lincolnwood sign is where I can find out how hot or cold it is. I always thought it was funny that the bank had a second branch that was on the same street less than a quarter mile away--they have a time and temperature sign, too.

The bank has been sold to Republic Bank of Chicago (which is actually headquartered in Oak Brook), and it's expected to open under Republic's auspices on Saturday morning. It's too early to say for sure, but the majority of employees are expected to be kept on. According to the FDIC, the Bank of Lincolnwood is Illinois's sixth bank failure this year (other news reports identify it as this year's third Chicago failure) and the 37th in the nation. I've seen some of those others, and I don't mean to say that I didn't take them seriously, but it's interesting to note how the simple proximity of this one make the entire recession and economic difficulties we're in have more resonance for me. Or maybe not--perhaps that's what proximity is all about.