Provident Bankshares Corp. intends to finish the year in a growth spurt - adding six bank branches to its network between now and the end of December in a push that highlights its strategy of operating inside grocery stores or other types of retail locations.

The six new Provident branches - along with one in Rosedale that opened Saturday - will bring the bank's total locations to 109. The growth wave will spill over into 2003, with Provident planning to add 12 to 15 branches next year, bank officials said.

During an uncertain period which has many lending institutions standing pat, Provident's expansion plans bode well for the prospects of the Baltimore-based bank, an analyst said. Another favorable sign is the success Provident has had with the branches it has opened inside grocery stores and other retailers, an approach that has tripped up many banks.

"When talking about grocery-store branches, you'll get strong opinions from either side of the aisle," said David West, an analyst who follows Provident for Davenport & Co. in Richmond, Va. "Provident is one of the few who has been able to use this approach and do a good job."

All of the six branches that will open in December will be situated within a grocery store or a discount-warehouse retailer. Four are in Maryland, and the other two in Northern Virginia, a market in which Provident is making a big push.

Three of the Maryland branches - along with the one that opened last week - will operate within the walls of Super- Fresh grocery stores, one each in Bowie, Perry Hall and Wheaton. The fourth will operate inside a Shoppers Food Warehouse store in Forestville, Prince George's County.

Of the two Virginia branches, one will open within the Fairfax BJ's Wholesale Club, and the other inside the Shoppers Food Warehouse store in Centreville.

Opening bank branches within stores "gives us a built-in customer base," said Ann Clair, managing director of branch banking for Provident. "It would take a month for us to see as many customers [in a free-standing branch] as our retail locations see in a week."

At the end of this year, when all the planned branches have opened, Provident will have 58 conventional branch offices and 51 "in-store" locations. In Virginia, where Provident is more of a newcomer, the bank has five traditional branches, and 13 within retailers.

Of its 91 other locations - chiefly in Maryland, though there's also a Pennsylvania presence - 53 are traditional bank branches, and 38 are in-store locations.

This mix of branch types is one reason that Provident's retail-branch approach has succeeded where those of other institutions have not, Davenport's West said. The bank branches inside grocery stores do see a lot of traffic, but most of that is "convenience banking" - relatively small transactions such as cashing paychecks, or servicing deposits or withdrawals. Such branches don't see much in the way of consumer or commercial loan applications - where banks really generate a big portion of profits, he said.

Banks with in-store locations need to have nearby branches, since that's where customers are accustomed to going when they want to take out a loan to buy a car, boat or - in the case of a commercial customer - a high-dollar piece of production equipment.

The successful formula is to use the in-store locations to capture new customers, while depending on the larger, traditional branches to keep them, according to West. Provident's mix of branch types helps that happen, he said. But Provident wants to gradually shift customer behavior, inducing consumers to use its in-store locations to do much of their banking.

The bank has some smaller "express" locations of 175 square feet, with a staff of two, that offer limited services and are designed only for convenience banking.

But most of its in-store branches are full-service operations: They take up 450 square feet, have a staff of six and have a menu of offerings that run the gamut - starting with checking accounts but including investment alternatives such as mutual funds as well as the full spread of loans. By comparison, a traditional branch typically is 2,500 square feet and has a full-time staff of six.

Really favoring in-store branches is the fact that they are open seven days a week, opening early and closing later than conventional branches, Provident's Clair said.

Just the other day, a customer came into one of Provident's grocery store branches first thing in the morning - hours before the regular branches were open - because he needed to get a loan processed and have cash-in-hand as soon as possible, Clair said. With his loan processed by 10 a.m., the customer left a happy man. The reason: He was headed for an auto dealership to pick up his new Hummer for a Thanksgiving weekend jaunt.

"It was just great," Clair said.