From staff reports

The names may sound exactly the same, but if a South Dakota bank gets the go-ahead to purchase four bank branches at Hy-Vee Food Stores in Minnesota, including Albert Lea, there may be some initial confusion to consumers.

Wednesday, February 28, 2001

The names may sound exactly the same, but if a South Dakota bank gets the go-ahead to purchase four bank branches at Hy-Vee Food Stores in Minnesota, including Albert Lea, there may be some initial confusion to consumers.

In an announcement made Monday, Home Federal Savings Bank of Sioux Falls, S.D., said it had reached an agreement to purchase Commercial Federal Bank’s branches in Albert Lea, Austin, Mankato and Rochester.

Enter the name game.

|While the Home Federal involved in Monday’s announcement is based in South Dakota, southeastern Minnesota already has a Home Federal Savings Bank that is based in Spring Valley and has branches in downtown Albert Lea, Austin, Rochester, La Crescent, Winona and Marshalltown, Iowa.

While the two Home Federals’ parent corporations have different names, their banking offices both operate under the same names.

&uot;It’s not our intention to be confusing to the consumer,&uot; Curtis L. Hage, chairman, president and chief executive officer of the South Dakota-based Home Federal said Tuesday.

Hage added that the two banks’ logos and schemes are different and said that customers would be able to &uot;delineate on a visual&uot; the difference.

&uot;We’re trying to be a friendly community bank,&uot; Hage added.

The sale transaction is expected to close by the year’s second quarter, subject to federal regulatory approval and conditions.

The South Dakota-based Home Federal Savings Bank is a subsidiary of HF Financial Corp. It has assets of about $765 million and currently operates 29 branches in 22 communities in South Dakota and southwest Minnesota. HF Financial Corp. is the largest publicly traded financial institution based in South Dakota.