News of Total Wine coming to South Bay causing some controversy in the neighborhood

The wine and liquor super store – Total Wine – is hoping to open at a shuttered Office Max at the South Bay Shopping Center. Some critics believe this new business will pose a threat to to small local package stores in the neighborhood in addition to the fact it’s a stone’s throw away from Mass + Cass – the epicenter of the addiction crisis in the city.

Janell Nanos – writer for the Boston Globe – is reporting on the growing pains of this “complex corner” where Dorchester, Roxbury and South Boston meet and whether Total Wine is the right fit for the South Bay shopping center.  Some residents believe it doesn’t belong in the neighborhood.

“You see addicted people everywhere,” said Ann Langone, a longtime resident of nearby Mayhew Street who says she only visits South Bay early in the day now, for safety reasons. “Why the hell would anyone in their right mind put a giant Kmart of a liquor store there?” (from the Boston Globe)

As opposition to Total Wine continues, Total Wine itself defends the proposed location as a way to “serve to help stabilize a troubled and ignored public safety crisis nearby.” According to the Globe article Total Wine vows it “won’t sell nips, quarter pints, or 40 oz. bottles of malt liquor.” 

The Save Boston Small Business Coalition started an online petition to try and stop the liquor superstore from opening in the neighborhood. In an open letter to the community, they state it will greatly and negatively affect their businesses and believe the proposed shop “does not meet public need nor serve the public good.”

You can read the full article in the Globe here. 

Image via Total Wine on Instagram