Residents around OC as well as visitors to the beach are probably familiar with Phillips Restaurant and Seafood. The company has a long history here on the Shore. Augustus E. Phillips opened a packing plant on Hooper's Island in Dorchester County in 1916. Forty years later, son Brice and his wife, Shirley, moved to OC and opened a crab shack to sell excess crabs from the Hooper's Island processing plant. The restaurant has since grown into a worldwide company with processing plants in Latin America and Southeast Asia to ensure a year-round supply of seafood to its restaurants concentrated in the Mid-Atlantic area, including the original restaurant we're all familiar with in OC.
A visit to Phillips' website shows the corporate headquarters for the restaurants is located in Baltimore. On their website, their "about us" section leaves the impression that they are still a "Mom and Pop" type store here on the Shore.
The restaurant in OC is not "true blue" certified. (True blue certified means that a restaurant serves crab products that are at least 75% Maryland blue crab.) Their commercial on TV, today, claims they serve "Maryland crabs", but we can see from their worldwide operations that the crabs they get most likely are coming from Southeast Asia.
By Shop Local Delmarva's definition of "locally owned and operated", Phillips Restaurant and Seafood, despite being founded as a locally owned and operated business, would not be considered a local business any more. The reason is the headquarters are in Baltimore, the owners' primary residence cannot be determined (at least 50% of the owners must live in the county where the business is located), and after extensive research, it appears Phillips Foods, Inc (the parent company of the restaurant in OC) all but abandoned support of the local communities (OC and Hooper's Island) where the company's roots are.
I really value the opinions of the fans of this page and Shop Local Delmarva. What do you think - locally owned or not? A collection of articles about the company as published in The Baltimore Sun may help you decide. Wikipedia has a brief history of the company as well. And of course, you can always visit their website.
A visit to Phillips' website shows the corporate headquarters for the restaurants is located in Baltimore. On their website, their "about us" section leaves the impression that they are still a "Mom and Pop" type store here on the Shore.
The restaurant in OC is not "true blue" certified. (True blue certified means that a restaurant serves crab products that are at least 75% Maryland blue crab.) Their commercial on TV, today, claims they serve "Maryland crabs", but we can see from their worldwide operations that the crabs they get most likely are coming from Southeast Asia.
By Shop Local Delmarva's definition of "locally owned and operated", Phillips Restaurant and Seafood, despite being founded as a locally owned and operated business, would not be considered a local business any more. The reason is the headquarters are in Baltimore, the owners' primary residence cannot be determined (at least 50% of the owners must live in the county where the business is located), and after extensive research, it appears Phillips Foods, Inc (the parent company of the restaurant in OC) all but abandoned support of the local communities (OC and Hooper's Island) where the company's roots are.
I really value the opinions of the fans of this page and Shop Local Delmarva. What do you think - locally owned or not? A collection of articles about the company as published in The Baltimore Sun may help you decide. Wikipedia has a brief history of the company as well. And of course, you can always visit their website.
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