August 30, 2002

People's Brings Seven-Day Banking To Brookside Super Stop & Shop

BRIDGEPORT, CONN.
People's Bank today opened its 60th supermarket office inside the Brookside Super Stop & Shop at 4531 Main St. The grand opening festivities attracted local dignitaries as well as friends and neighbors who came to celebrate the convenience of seven-day, full-service banking in Bridgeport.

The Brookside Super Stop & Shop branch is People's eighth branch in Bridgeport, two of which are supermarket branches. People's first opened for business in Bridgeport in 1842.

"For 160 years, we've been bringing banking innovations to the people of Bridgeport and throughout Connecticut," said Robert R. D'Amore, executive vice president, Marketing and Regional Banking, at People's. "Today our supermarket branches reflect our commitment to providing the best service and convenience to our customers. Based on the success of our other Stop & Shop offices, we believe our customers truly appreciate the convenience of seven-day-a-week banking."

The public is invited to stop by the new branch, meet Financial Service Manager Sarina Manibanseng and learn about People's grand-opening specials -an offer of free checking for one year plus 50 free checks and an offer of a $10 Stop & Shop coupon.

In honor of today's grand opening, People's donated $1,000 to The Child Guidance Center of Greater Bridgeport, an organization serving the emotional well-being of area children and their families.

People's brought supermarket banking to Connecticut, opening an office in Grand Union of Westport in 1980. In 1995, People's entered into an exclusive partnership with the Stop & Shop Supermarket Company that has resulted in a total of 60 branches in Connecticut Super Stop & Shop stores.

The Brookside office is open seven days a week, from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturdays and from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Sundays.

People's (peoples.com) is a diversified financial services company providing commercial, consumer, insurance and investment services. Founded in 1842, it is the largest state-chartered bank in Connecticut with managed assets of $14 billion, 151 branches and 230 ATMs. People's is a leader in consumer and commercial banking, residential lending, insurance sales, supermarket banking and is the nation's 15th-largest issuer of MasterCard and Visa credit cards. People's subsidiaries offer brokerage services, asset management, equipment financing and leasing, and insurance services.

For an electronic version of this release, please contact Valerie.Carlson@peoples.com