Housed inside Milwaukee’s El Rey Foodmart, the El Rey branch serves a vital role in North Shore Bank’s mission to serve our community. Around two-thirds of the branch’s customers speak only Spanish, says Branch Manager Alfredo Martin — and the branch is always busy, thanks to customers who prefer personalized service to using ATMs. Our previous Branch of the Week was Bayshore.

The El Rey team: Claudia Romo-Verdin, Maria Mejia, Karina Soto, Guadalupe Barbosa, Maria Hernandez, Josephina Reyes, and Alfredo Martin. Not pictured: Javier Bernal and Erika Hernandez.

Personnel
Alfredo J. Martin, Area Manager, El Rey and Jackson Park branches
Guadalupe Barbosa, Teller (helping from Jackson Park)
Javier Bernal, Teller
Erika Hernandez, Teller
Maria Hernandez, Teller
Maria Mejia, Teller
Josephina Reyes, Teller Supervisor
Claudia Romo-Verdin, Assistant Branch Manager–Sales
Karina Soto, Personal Banker

What is your community like? What’s it known for?
Our branch is an in-store branch inside one of El Rey’s Mexican supermarkets, right in the heart of the Latino community, on the south side of Milwaukee. Our staff provides financial services in both Spanish and English. About 65 to 70 percent of our customer base speaks Spanish only.

What annual or regular events are a big deal at the branch?
Every year, during Christmastime, we host the Race for the Hungry event. We sponsor the race with the Milwaukee Christian Center and have a race inside the supermarket between two Milwaukee Christian Center board members. The goal is to gather as many nonperishable food items as they can for the center’s food pantry. It’s a great feeling being part of it every year.

What are some important moments or people in the branch’s history?
We can proudly say that North Shore Bank is the only financial institution in Wisconsin with an in-store branch in a Latino supermarket. Also, El Rey was named Branch of the Year several years ago.

Does your branch have any favorite or special customers?
Something quite unique about our customer base is that most of them want to be taken care of at the window, so that they have the opportunity to talk to and ask questions of their favorite tellers. We have two ATMs on the premises (inside and outside the store; one takes deposits), but that does not deter most customers from requesting personalized service — which they get from all of the tellers at the branch.

What services or products seem to be most important to your customers?
El Rey has been instrumental in offering financial services to a segment of our community that, for different reasons, has often not been exposed to having a checking account or has not been able to establish a good credit history. Knowing this, we’ve made it one of our objectives to work with them and help them feel comfortable managing their money — for example, by helping them use debit cards, or by giving them information and guidance on how to establish credit and plan accordingly, so that eventually they can be preapproved for a home loan.

Any personal celebrations or milestones among the people at the branch recently?
Erika Hernandez had a baby girl in November, named Genesis.

Is there some music, or a TV show or movie or book or anything that’s notably popular among the people at your branch?
We all have different musical tastes, or enjoy different TV shows due to our different ages. But most of us enjoy the music that plays through the supermarkets speakers. It’s music from the ’60s and ’70s — Paul McCartney, the Eagles, Rod Stewart — as well as traditional Latino music, such as salsa and cumbia, which makes you feel you are at a dance hall!

What’s a great story from your branch?
We have several customers who bring us chocolates or other candy, or water from the store when they see long lines of people waiting to be taken care of! El Rey is one of the busiest — if not the busiest — branches at North Shore Bank, from a “number of transactions” perspective, in addition to having two of the busiest ATMs as well.

Any exciting developments on the horizon?
I think big things are in store for our “in-store” El Rey branch! We are all excited about the consistent economic growth in our community, and the El Rey branch is quite ready to be part of such an enthusiastic community full of magnificent opportunities!