01:00 AM EST on Sunday, December 19, 2004

Niche bank opening branch in Coventry Rhode Island's newest deposit-taking bank, Randolph Savings Bank, will open a headquarters by year's end at the Centre of New England in Coventry.

The bank, based in Soughton, Mass., for the last year has run a commercial, residential and consumer lending office in East Greenwich.

Peter T. Pastore Jr., of Cranston, directed the lending office and will oversee the bank's expansion.

"We believe there is a niche in Rhode Island for a bank our size that offers all the products that the largest banks do but is still community-oriented and customer-focused," said Pastore, executive vice president.

Ronald Gant, chief executive of Randolph, said the mutual savings bank with $400 million in assets and seven locations in Massachusetts is looking for more branch locations in the region.

Good news for area restaurants While the regional economy stumbles into the new year, people will continue to eat out more in 2005, according to the National Restaurant Association.

Rhode Island restaurants are forecast to post sales of $1.8 billion, a 5.1-percent increase. Among the other New England states: Massachusetts, $11 billion, up 4.7 percent; Connecticut, $4.8 billion, up 4.6 percent; New Hampshire, $1.9 billion, a 5.5-percent hike.

Overall, sales in the New England region are expected to reach $21.6 billion next year.

Coupon clippers abound in Providence Here's more evidence of how serious discount shopping is in Rhode Island.

A new survey by Scarborough Research, in New York, found that the top two metropolitan areas in the country for percentage of adults who use grocery coupons are Providence and Buffalo, N.Y.

In both areas, 46 percent of the adults said they used grocery coupons at least once a week. About 37 percent of adults in the Boston metro area use coupons, the survey found.

Nationally, 30 percent of adults use coupons at the supermarket on a weekly basis. The smallest percentages (16 percent) were found in Fresno, Calif. and Albuquerque, N.M.

Two accounting firms becoming one Kahn, Litwin, Renza & Co., the Providence-based certified public accounting and consulting firm, will merge Jan. 1 with Casten, Victor & Co., LLP, of Newport, creating a firm with 90 staffers. KLR will keep the Providence office and the Newport office, where Richard Casten and Robert Victor will continue to work.

"The two firms bring diverse experience, talent and resources together to make KLR stronger and better equipped to comprehensively serve the local marketplace," said Alan Litwin, managing director of KLR.

Key negotiators in Fleet sale are gone Here's a tidbit in the wake of Chad Gifford's announcement last week that he is stepping down as Bank of America Corp. chairman after less than nine months in the role.

Three of four key figures in the negotiations to sell FleetBoston Financial Corp. to Bank of America are now out the door with Bank of America chief executive officer Ken Lewis outlasting them all.

Along with Gifford, the former Fleet CEO, the others who decided to leave within months of completing the merger are former Fleet president Eugene McQuade and former Bank of America chief financial officer James Hance.

McQuade, of East Greenwich, left first, announcing his departure in May less than two months after assuming the role of Bank of America president.

During the Fleet-Bank of America courtship, McQuade and Hance held key talks that were finalized by Gifford and Lewis. Hance gave up the CFO's role earlier this year and became vice chairman. Now he is preparing to retire outright at the end of January, like Gifford.

FleetCenter won't become CVS Center Woonsocket-based CVS Corp. scotched media speculation last week that the company is interested in putting its name on the FleetCenter in Boston.

"It is not something we are considering at this time," said Eileen Howard Dunn, vice president for corporate communications and community relations at CVS.

Bank of America, which acquired Fleet, has said the sports arena will not be renamed the Bank of America Center, and is still trolling for deep-pocked companies interested in paying for the naming rights.

Lewis, the CEO from Charlotte with little knowledge of Boston sports history, seemed confused when asked during a recent visit to Providence if he would consider naming the arena the Boston Garden for the old arena that the FleetCenter replaced.

After the bell . . .T.F. Green broke through the 5-million passenger mark in November. The airport processed 5.08 million travellers through the first 11 months of the year, up 6.4 percent from the similar period in 2003. For November, 466,280 passengers used Green, up 10.9 percent from November, 2003.

. . .Howard Fine, formerly from Cranston and a graduate of Rhode Island College, recently opened the Howard Fine Acting Studio in Hollywood, Calif.

. . .Brian J. Spero, a partner with Partridge Snow & Hahn, has been installed as two-year president of the USFN -- a national, non-profit association of law firms and trustees that represent mortgage lenders.

. . .Michael Plante, of North Smithfield, has been selected 2005 president of State-Wide Multiple Listing Service. He is manager of Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage in Cumberland and North Providence.

. . .StrategicPoint Investment Advisors, of Providence, is opening satellite offices in Cumberland and Newport. The two principals in the firm are David F. Brochu, chief executive officer, and Jill Schlesinger.

Happy Holidays. Make it a great 2005. I'll see you in the new year.

John Kostrzewa is the Journal's business editor. Share an anecdote or quip from the world of business and finance by sending it to pjbiz [at] projo.com