The Boston Licensing Board on Thursday approved a proposed 23,000-square-foot Total Wine store at the South Ball mall, where the OfficeMax used to be.

At a hearing in November, the store said South Bay was in strong need of a large liquor store stocking hundreds of different types of beers, wines and spirits - pointing in part to the liquor license the mall's Stop & Shop had, in part to the growing population in the surrounding area.

Opponents, who included City Councilors Frank Baker, Julia Mejia and Michael Flaherty and now former Councilor Annissa Essaibi George and acting Mayor Kim Janey, however, sided with nearby residents and small-business owners, who said the last thing the area needs is a large liquor store - and that part of the proof of that was how Stop & Shop had sold its liquor license several months earlier to a nearby concern that only sells liquor by delivery through a Web site.