Back to the Branches.

Branch consolidation probably seemed like a good idea at the time: With the nation wired for telephones and ATM kiosks and two-way cable and the Internet, who needed to actually go to a bank office any more? Let's shut down all those superfluous branches, eliminate all those extra bodies and really save some money.

Boy, are we rethinking that idea.

Financial institutions are resorting to all sorts of approaches to lure customers back to the branches: coffee bars, television lounges, rocking chairs and the like.

Some institutions, such as Washington Mutual, have embraced the retail milieu with wholehearted fervor. Bank employees stroll through the lobbies wearing telephone headsets so they can do face time and phone time more or less simultaneously. Concierge desks attempt to break down the barrier between customers and employees, and they'll hand out pagers so you can wander down to the restaurant down the block and come back when a bank representative is ready to see you. Books on financial management are offered for sale. Play areas are available to occupy the kids while mom and dad take care of the money.

Washington Mutual "stores," which often don't even have vaults, also sell such retail products as calculators, pens and piggy banks. And, of course, you read here recently about WaMu's venture into the doll business--small "action figures" in Washington Mutual uniforms, complete with cell phones.

Will this work? May so, maybe not. The Wall Street Journal quotes a skeptic, an Ohio-based consultant, who expressed serious doubts about the ability of retail- oriented appeals to keep bank customers happy. "Customers after a while become very leery of banks trying to sell them stuff," she said.