Capital One Financial Corp., a credit-card company turned regional banking titan, closed six North Jersey branches last month, but remains committed to expanding in the area, a company executive said Thursday.

Branches were closed in Edgewater, Woodcliff Lake, Dumont and Hillsdale. Two offices in Hoboken also were shuttered.

Jon Trombley, a regional manager, declined to say why the branches -- three of which were inside supermarkets -- were shut down. Branches are closed routinely for many reasons, including current and projected economic conditions, how well the branch has performed financially and other factors, he said.

The McLean, Va.-based bank, which entered New York and New Jersey with its acquisition in 2006 of North Fork Bancorp, has in the past year received regulatory approvals to open 22 branches in New Jersey. Trombley said the company plans to open 11 next year.

Like other large banks from outside New Jersey, Capital One wants to tap into the state's household wealth, which is above the national average. The company slightly increased its branch count in New Jersey to 78 in mid-2008 from North Fork's 75 in mid-2007.

But its deposits and market share in the state fell to $3.21 billion (a 1.41 percent share) from $3.58 billion (1.61 percent) between June 30, 2007, and June 30, 2008. Company officials declined to comment on the drop in deposits.

Whether the worsening economy will temper the bank's growth plans is not clear. "We try to do everything very smartly," said Diana Don, a Capital One spokeswoman. "As our CEO Richard Fairbank has said, we do take the downturn into consideration and the growth plans are a part of that."

The company, which earned $374.1 million, or $1 a share in the third quarter, in line with analysts' expectations, is one of at least 44 banks eligible to receive funding from the federal government's Troubled Asset Relief Program.

Capital One continues to advertise aggressively in the New York City and North Jersey areas with television, print and billboard ads. The company declined to disclose how much it has spent on ads, the most recent of which promotes free checking accounts with debit cards that offer cash, merchandise and travel rewards.

In TV ads that highlight the size of its branch network, gigantic push pins, like those that might mark locations on a life-size map, crash like meteors from the sky onto a New York City streetscape.

"They are trying to break through the clutter of ads on the airwaves and shock value can do that," said Timothy Longfellow, a professor of bank marketing at Illinois State University.

In less dramatic fashion, occasional openings -- and closings -- of Capital One branches in northern New Jersey seem likely to continue.

A branch to be run by students at West Side High School in Newark is opening next week. And an East Ridgewood Avenue storefront branch in Paramus is earmarked for closing in December. The customers and their accounts will be moved to a new stand-alone branch under construction on Route 17 north.

At least one small business customer, the gift shop Motophoto, will not make the move to the new location, said Jim Morello, manager of the store that is right next door to the closing branch.

"We're going to find another bank," he said.

"If banks merge and stay in the same location, that's not so bad," he said. "But moving to another location is a real inconvenience."

Morello said he also is concerned that the loss of the bank may result in less traffic at the strip mall, which already has several vacancies.

Trombley expressed sympathy for inconvenienced customers.

"We have an obligation to shareholders as well as customers," he said. "We don't take closing branches lightly," he said.

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Capital Ones branch closings

* Washington Avenue, Dumont

* Chestnut Ridge Road, Woodcliff Lake

* River Road, Edgewater

* Broadway, Hillsdale

* Madison Street, Hoboken

* Washington Street, Hoboken

Source: Capital One Financial Corp.

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E-mail: newman@northjersey.com

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