Addition of new anchor store could spruce up sagging mall
The old and faded strip mall at Fields Corner will undergo a major overhaul this summer when the property's owners shell out more than $1 million in anticipation of a new anchor store. A.J. Wright, a national discount chain, will replace B.d.'s, an older discount store, said Paul Cifrino, a partner in Fields Station LLC. A.J. Wright, which sells clothing and home goods, is owned by
B.d.'s, with its peeling white sign and aisles crammed with everything from marked-down dish soap to lace curtains, is expected to close by June 1; work on new signs, facades, and fencing and parking lot improvements is expected to begin by mid-June, according to a good-faith agreement the Cifrinos made with the city. ''I think what really happened was the mayor got involved," said Evelyn Darling, executive director of Fields Corner Main Street, about the plan. ''We're so happy he was able to do that."
Many residents have long hoped the old mall would get an aesthetic boost, she said. The improvements are part of the mayor's plan to beautify Dorchester Avenue. Other mall tenants will remain. The Cifrino family is still locked in a legal dispute with the owners of Orlando's Food Basket, the grocer at the far end of the property. ''We would like them to leave," Cifrino said.
The store is under new management but was previously run by America's Food Basket, which filed for bankruptcy and left the store closed in January. Cifrino said the empty store motivated his family to pursue a new grocer; a lawsuit on the store's lease agreement is pending. But Orlando Revollo, store manager, said the Food Basket's new owner is committed to staying.
PAYSHA STOCKTON RHONE 
