Citizens Deposit Bank closed their branch in Aberdeen on Saturday, June 13, due to poor financial returns at the location.

The Aberdeen branch of Citizens Deposit Bank closed its doors on Saturday, June 13 for good.

The branch closed along with one in South Webster, Ohio, as the bank decided to focus its resources more on its Maysville, Ky., and Ripley branches.

“It was just so small,” Citizens Deposit Bank and Trust Chief Financial Officer Karen Ravencraft told The Ripley Bee. “It just didn’t generate enough business to justify (keeping it open). The fact that we had branches close by, one in Maysville and one in Ripley, it just didn’t have enough activity and it hadn’t been growing.”

The closing of the bank at 130 Stivers Road marks the end of the more than 45 years for the building serving the citizens of Aberdeen as a bank. While it has gone through many names, the bank, first opened in 1970, served as a branch for Citizens National Bank and Integra Bank before becoming Citizens Deposit Bank in 2011, according to the Brown County GIS.

According to information provided by the Brown County Auditor’s Office through a public records request, the property where the branch once operated sold on June 1 for $175,000 to Beverly Hills Inn LA Inc., which operates a hotel facility next door to the former bank location.

Beverly Hills Inn LA owner Annette Applegate was unavailable for comment as of press time.

Ravencraft said since the closing, one of the two staff members from the Aberdeen branch had transferred to the Maysville branch, while the other staff member was seeking new employment.

In the days leading up to the closing, Ravencraft said the branch sent out messages to customers, alerting them of the upcoming change.

“We informed customers by mail and anyone else associated with the branch,” she said. “We made visits to the commercial customers. We notified the safe deposit box people. I think we gave them a free safe deposit box for another year (at a nearby branch).”

Ravencraft said the Ripley and Maysville branches weren’t in danger of closing. She also said the decision to close the branches came from the bank’s board of directors and higher management.

A new branch is expected to open this August in Florence, Ky.

Citizens Deposit Bank is headquartered in Vanceburg, Ky., located in Lewis County along the Ohio River.

Reach Daniel Karell at 937-378-6161. Follow him on Twitter @GNDKarell