The lease had been held by Stop & Shop, but the company signed the lease with GPB, a realty company. According to Phil Carver, president of the Pope's Hill Neighborhood Association, Stop & Shop has a store further up Morrissey Boulevard and wanted to build a garage at that location but would have moved to this location if it didn't receive permits for the addition.

Calls to National Wholesale's corporate offices were not returned by deadline, but Carver tells GlobeSt.com that the company is planning to open up a number of stores in the area. His group is concerned that the realty company didn't confer with the neighborhood groups before signing this new lease. "Morrissey Boulevard is the economic engine here. As development sites become vacant we are asking owners to sit down with community groups to steer smart growth," he says.

Less than half mile down Morrissey Boulevard is a 77,000 sf parcel owned by TAGE Corp. Its owner, Joseph Tagliente, had a deal with a storage company to buy the site for $2.5 million. But in response to community pressure, Tagliente agreed to walk away from this deal and find a more "appropriate buyer" says Carver, who notes that his group wants to see a national restaurant chain buy the site.

"We're trying to change the face of our community," adds Carver. "We want good quality chains. [National Liquidator] may be a great addition, but it's an unknown entity to us." The site adjacent to this parcel was just acquired by a Chinese restaurant.