BEFORE The BS Hits The Fan, There's Two Sides To Every Story. This Side Is The TRUTH.

January 14, 2018

Allow me to introduce myself: my name is Rob Mulford. I am the owner of Market Street Inn. Here at Market Street, we have served the Salisbury community since 2001. Since that time, much has changed. Salisbury has grown. It has been fun to watch many of my early employees, who have moved on, to raise families, start businesses, buy homes, and live and reside here on the Eastern Shore or elsewhere. I have also had the pleasure of seeing my customers, over the years, grow, evolve, learn, change, and experience life, through its ups and downs. Since the beginning, however, our goal has remained the same: to provide high-quality food in a welcoming atmosphere, all the time. Whether it is for a celebratory dinner with friends and family, or simply to get a beer and a sandwich on a football Sunday, we want you to come to Market Street and feel at home. That goal will never change.

As a restaurant owner in our community, sometimes I experience firsthand the materialization of what I believe is an old Ben Franklin quote—you cannot make all the people happy all of the time. Trust me, we try. We currently have a staff of about 50 people, from backgrounds of all kinds, who are trained to prioritize our customers, and consistently meet their expectations. Unfortunately, however, when dealing with high volume, customers and staff, food that must be prepared and sold, rules that must be followed, and bills that must be paid, once in a while a customer leaves our restaurant with an experience that falls short of our goal. Often, when a customer feels this way, we must “agree to disagree.” But we always listen, and we always care, and we always want to make things better and implement the same goal since day one—to make you feel at home.

Recently, and regrettably, we had four customers who left our restaurant dissatisfied. Two of these customers asked to buy alcoholic beverages, and produced drivers’ licenses that my employees, including management, carefully examined and could not be convinced were authentic. They checked the identifications very closely and deliberately, and at the end, in an abundance of caution, declined to serve those two customers their drinks. At no time whatsoever did we deny these customers service. We were simply exercising our judgment, which include safety and legal concerns, to decline serving alcohol without proper identification. We were prepared to continue serving these customers food, non-alcoholic beverages, and offer the same welcoming atmosphere we continuously strive to provide at Market Street. These customers, however, felt otherwise. Since this time, they have initiated a campaign, much through social media, claiming they were discriminated against as “women of color.” The post at issue includes the following allegations:

While we disagree that race, national origin, or color had any impact whatsoever in our decision to not sell these customers alcohol, we take these concerns seriously, and we care, and we would like to make clear that we respect these concerns, and will always try harder to make our customers feel welcome. We are open to everyone, colorblind, always have and always will be. In addition, here at Market Street, we know with our success comes responsibility. Underage drinking, especially in a college town, is widespread, and we want to take every precaution possible to ensure that we only serve alcohol to those of legal age. We train our staff, including management, to error on the side of caution; the City of Salisbury has been good to us, and we strive to uphold our end of the bargain, to follow every standard and help keep our community safe.

Here at Market Street, diversity is what makes us work. I can assure you, when it comes to customers, clients and employees, we have seen, accepted and welcomed all walks of life, from everywhere, and that is what makes us who we are. We are here to serve the community in which we work and live. We are open seven days a week—to everyone-- and we want you to come, sit down, relax, eat and drink, and feel good and like you are with old friends. That was my goal in 2001 and that is my goal today. The Salisbury community has been extraordinarily supportive to me, through our ups and downs, and I remain committed to serving this city and giving back. Please feel free to stop by Market Street, and ask for me, Rob Mulford, if there is anything you would like to discuss, or if you would just like to have a good meal with friends.

Rob Mulford
Owner, Market Street Inn

Publishers Notes: I find it absolutely amazing the lengths this young lady went through to defame such a good man and honorable business. I read her Facebook post last night and was amazed at what I was seeing. IMHO, Rob could very easily file a serious lawsuit against these woman for defamation. Go back to where you came from because you young lady are a very spiteful and dangerous woman.