Umpqua Bank understands retailing

This month I had the pleasure of riding the STP (Seattle to Portland) bicycle classic, a relatively flat 200 mile ride over a weekend. While the organizers provide food and rest stops, one can never have too much food and water on these events. There are ten thousand participants and we pass literally hundreds of retailers, shops, and financial institutions each day. Only one of them saw this as a marketing opportunity: Umpqua bank. They set up a tent with drinks, opened up their lobby with restrooms and coffee to passing cyclists, and dramatically increased their traffic to the branch. I actually heard one of my fellow cyclists saying to an Umpqua banker, "Yes you guys do have a branch near me." It wouldn't surprise me if he opens an account....