User:Vchimpanzee/Farmers & Merchants Bank (Salisbury, North Carolina)

Farmers & Merchants Bank, also called F&M Bank, is a bank with administrative offices located in Salisbury, North Carolina and an operations center in Granite Quarry, North Carolina. It is a subsidiary of F&M Financial Corporation, with ten locations in Rowan County and Cabarrus County.

Early history
In 1909, fourteen men met at the Granite Quarry school to start a bank. George S.D. Howard, named secretary and later first president, suggested the name Farmers & Merchants Bank. A white frame building was built at the corner of two streets later named Highway 80 and Bank Street. The bank opened July 15, and while potential customers had to be convinced to deposit their savings, Farmers & Merchants had more than $28,000 in assets a year later.

The 1920s caused hard times for the bank as mills closed, but J.E. Fisher convinced employees of nearby quarries to deposit money. The building got a new roof, bricks, and some interior work in 1932. The bank holiday in 1933 caused no problems.

By 1951, Farmers & Merchants had over $2 million in resources. In 1954, a new branch was the county's first with a drive-in window. J.E. Fisher finally agreed to be president, and he was honored in 1964 for fifty years' service.

Paul Fisher, son of J.E. Fisher, spent nearly 60 years as the bank's head, starting in 1972.

In 1973 F&M opened its second office, in Salisbury. In 1974, Rockwell and Faith branches opened. By 2000, F&M had eight branches and wanted to move its administrative offices.

Downtown Salisbury
On January 29, 2000, F&M gave Rowan County a check for $922,500 for several buildings owned by the county on North Main Street in Salisbury. The county bought part of the property in 1995 for Justice Center expansion and parking. Later, the county had options on the property in the next block. F&M planned to renovate the art deco Mayfield Building at 221 North Main Street for its administrative offices. The five-story 20,000-square-foot R.W. Norman's Building, built in 1924 at 225 North Main Street, would also be redeveloped, but a building between the two would be demolished, opening up what was once Easy Street. The new Easy Street would be a "pedestrian corridor" and event space with public art, to be built with $150,000 in support from the city. Behind the Mayfield Building, a Charleston Garden would replace a warehouse. The garden was named Mr. Paul's Garden for the bank's head in 2019.

F&M also saw a way to help the city's leading art gallery. Waterworks Visual Arts Center moved into the city's original water works in 1977 and remained there for 23 years. The space was too small and the city wanted to use the 1909 building for offices, so F&M donated a two-story 10,000-square-foot building on East Liberty Street, formerly home to the McCanless Motor Co. dealership. The art gallery was responsible for raising the $2.5 million to renovate and add to its endowment. Once the bank renovated it, the McCanless Garage became known as The Trolley Barn because it housed trolleys used downtown. The Trolley Barn also became an event space.

Paul Fisher received an award for historic preservation on March 28, 2001. Presenter Bob Allen mentioned Fisher's work as head of the Flowers Bakery Area Redevelopment Task Force and, referring to a metal facade removed from the Mayfield Building, said "his ability to see beyond the aluminum prompted his purchase of the old Norman's complex. The restoration of the former Mayfield Building into prime office space has turned what could have been a sea of asphalt into an asset for our downtown landscape."

Also in 2001, plans were announced for the Norman's building. A&H Investments, named for Jake Alexander Jr. and John Henderlite, bought the building with plans to add 5400 square feet, intending to turn it into 25,000 square feet of offices and retail. F&M would finance the $3.5 million project, which was eligible for tax credits, and to use 5,100 square feet on the first floor. The building once house R.W. Norman's furniture store, first opened in 1909. The upper floors later housed drapery production, and Norman exited the furniture business in 1963, with the company changing to home decor. Because the building was in bad shape, Norman's moved to Burlington, North Carolina in 1995, after which the county bought the property. Once finished in 2002, the building became known as F&M Professional Center.

Later in 2001, the bank completed its $5 million renovation of the Mayfield Building for administrative offices. The F&M Financial Center had been the city's original Montgomery Ward location in the 1920s as well as Mayfield's Furniture Store and additional space for the Norman's operation. As a result of F&M's contribution, $15 million went into properties that could have been a parking lot.

Recent history
After the Carolina Maid Products Inc. plant, opened in 1935 in Granite Quarry, closed in 1999, F&M bought the 17,000-square-foot building on U.S. 52 where the company once made dresses to be sold by small businesses. In 2003 and 2004, the bank renovated the building for its operations center, where 30 employees worked, and room was available for twice that many.

In 2004, F&M planned its first branch in Cabarrus County on Dale Earnhardt Boulevard in Kannapolis.

In 2005, F&M added its second Cabarrus County branch in the Car City building on Church Street in Concord. This was a temporary location while the adjacent Wilmar Financial Center was built. The new 6500-square-foot building opened November 1, 2007. The Concord location, one of eleven in the two counties, was the bank's fastest-growing location, having achieved a 4 percent market share in Cabarrus County. F&M had a 28 percent share in its home county.

When F&M celebrated its 100th anniversary, it had almost $700 million in assets and 150 employees. The Fisher family still owned half the stock. The bank had previously restored its original building, and CEO Paul Fisher and the directors still meet there.

F&M's second location in Granite Quarry was sold to a drug store which opened April 1, 2013.