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Why Johnson Financial Group is Investing in its Branch Network

At a glance

  • Johnson Financial Group has invested tens of millions of dollars in its bank branches over the past six years.
  • Johnson Bank has opened or renovated several Milwaukee-area locations.
  • The next location on Johnson's radar is replacing its Kenosha office.

Johnson Financial Group is betting on bank branches.

In a landscape where many banks are shrinking their physical branch footprints, the Racine-based financial institution is investing in building new branches and renovating outdated ones. The business has invested tens of millions of dollars on its branch network over the past six years and plans to continue to invest, said CEO Jim Popp.

The moves reflect a changing banking landscape, Popp said.

“Branches today are different than they were 30 years ago. You don’t build branches with six horse-stall kind of teller lines,” Popp said. “Branches are advice centers more than they are transaction centers. ... For us, we’re building branches to have a different feel of the footprint.”

The advice center concept will be on display in Kenosha, where Johnson Financial Group plans to replace an existing office with a new, updated building. The new branch will feature a large community gathering space and will have Johnson Financial Group wealth management, retirement planning and investment services all under one roof.

“Most of our clients and customers who come into a branch, they don’t need all those things, but we want to make sure they’re available to them if they do,” Popp said.

Johnson Financial Group has rolled out the strategy for its banking arm, Johnson Bank, over the last six years. It has taken shape around the Milwaukee area, including with new branches opening in Delafield in 2023 and West Milwaukee in 2024 and the renovation of a Mequon branch in 2023.

It also included moving into a new downtown Milwaukee office in 2021 and opening a branch at the Cathedral Place building at 555 E. Wells St.

Popp declined to go into detail about how many branches would be updated or the timeline for any other renovations.

Johnson Bank has about 30 offices in Wisconsin, and Popp doesn’t see adding any locations.

“I hate to say we don’t worry about cost. We do. We pay attention to cost,” Popp said. “What we care more about is being in the communities that make the most sense to us. We care about having branches that fit what we do and how we do it and that are great for our clients and our associates.”

Johnson Financial Group is one of the largest private companies based in the Milwaukee area with revenue of more than $292 million in 2024, according to Business Journal research.

Johnson Bank is one of the largest Milwaukee-area banks and also is among Wisconsin banks with the fastest-growing deposits, according to a Business Journal analysis of data from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.

As seen in Milwaukee Business Journal