BizBrief: Scottrade to open on Pantops

Sick of your stockbroker but terrified of online-only? One the nation's top discount firms wants to hold your hand. Scottrade, home of $7 trades, will open an office in Charlottesville on Monday, November 23, up on Pantops Mountain in the Rivanna Ridge Shopping Center. Isn't it a little brazen to take on bricks and mortar overhead in this recession? "We're getting that comment pretty often," says company publicist Ben Gillham, "but our leadership [seeks] conservative growth." Gillham says that Scottrade isn't abandoning online transactions or attempting to provide stock picks, just offering a friendly face in the form of branch manager Bijal Patel for customers and potential customers. "They've lost trust in traditional brokers," says Gillham, "and we offer them a way to do it themselves." The office will be open 8:30-5 Monday through Friday and can be reached at 434-295-1934.