By Polly Mikula
Salmeri, 62, has been coming up to Killington for most of his life, moving here full-time 35 years ago.
“I used to come up here when I was a young kid with my uncles from Weymouth, Massachusetts, we belonged to the Mercury Ski Club,” he said. “The ski club was great, we came up skiing every weekend. It was ‘75-‘76, and this mountain was incredible.
“In high school I’d come up with my buddies and we all ended up here in Killington… Then I went into the Marine Corps, life took its turns… In 1991, I was working on Cape Cod in the summer and was laid off for the winter, so one day I came up here to ski and never went back. Literally, I called my sisters and said, Pack my stuff up for me, will ya?”
That first winter and into 1993, Salmeri worked for Killington Resort. In 1993-1994 he took a job working for Judd Dugan’s (where Jax is currently located).
“At the end of the week, after working 40+ hours I was lucky if I had $15-$20 in my pocket to play with,” Salmeri remembered. But Salmeri wanted more and was willing to work for it.
Soon he got the chance to take over the bar at the Inn at Six. “That was the original Moguls,” Salmeri said. “It had seven seats and two little tables.”
Salmeri admitted that the first attempt wasn’t very successful, partially due to the shortage of parking. He also realized the space was “just too small for me to do what I envisioned in my dream. I always say if you can dream it, you can make it happen, it’s just hard work that stands in your way.”
In the 1994-1995 season, he took over the Jax building and opened the Moguls Saloon, the first sports bar in Killington and the first to offer real barbecue.
Just before he opened Moguls Saloon, Sal met Margaret (Maggie) Hall while visiting in Massachusetts. “The first day I met her, I told her I was going back up to open up a bar. She ended up coming up … When she asked what she should do while I was working, I told her if she wanted, she could clean rooms. She thought I was nuts, but even my mom worked at the hotel to get me through… But the hard work pays off in the end,” he said.
The building included the former Roaring Brook Inn, which he adapted to employee and resort housing. “It was $50 per week for rent and that included five meals a week … we filled the joint,” he recalled. He also put in Buds and Suds, a laundromat that mostly served the local employees living there.
“We offered a $3.99 burger and a beer. We kept it affordable for the locals. That’s why I butted heads with some of the other restaurant owners, boy, did they hate me…”
“We used to bring bands up from Boston, often contestants from the [radio program] Battle of the Bands,” he went on. “We’d give them a lift ticket and they’d stay at the hotel; we’d also burn every band that came up their own CD, many of which we still have… We’d have two to three bands per day,” he remembered.
One addition to Moguls Saloon that Salmeri made happen was a miniature golf course, which he brought with him from Cape Cod and set up behind the Jax building. “I like toys,” he said. “If I can envision it, I can build it.”
To survive the skiing off-season, Salmeri hosted Boy Scout camping trips for two or three summers. Once an Eagle Scout himself, “I’m big with the Boy Scouts, always have been,” he explained.
Moving into the current location
Salmeri left the Jax building in 1998 after unsuccessfully trying to buy the building. “So we took over what was called Zorba’s and we were there until 2004.”
Zorba’s Pizza, owned by the Spanos family, was located in the upper parking lot of what is now Mountain Merchant, not far from Moguls’ current location. “We also tried to buy that building, but back then you just couldn’t buy buildings. Commercial [real estate] was unavailable, someone had to die before you got your foot in the door.”
(Zorba’s Pizza burned down shortly after Sal left, around 2005, he recalled.)
When the Zorba’s deal fell through, he bought his current place, the former The Real Fence Inn, at auction. “I always went after hotels for some reason,” he laughed.
“In 54 days we gutted and renovated the place and built the parking lot,” he said. “We also had to go through ‘change of use’ and get permits from the state and town. But got all done in 54 days,” he remembered.
“I bought the dining room — booths and furniture — at the Sirloin Saloon auction in Rutland,” Salmeri said.
Other endeavors, beyond Moguls
Salmeri also bought The Killington Mall, just up the road, at auction in 2019. The 22,500 square foot building on four acres currently houses Mary Lou’s and Baja Burrito.
“I had no interest in running another bar. I bought it for the apartments,” he said.
He now rents all eight apartments to locals and has kept prices affordable. While he has had to raise the price a bit due to tax increases, he said, “A 1-bedroom is still in the $800-900 range; 2-bedrooms are $1,200-$1,400, and my two 3-bedrooms will probably be $1,600+ utilities. … Three guys can afford $600 each and they’re on the bus route.”
Salmeri plans to keep The Mall in a trust. “If I flip it and line my pockets, the locals are going to pay the price. So I’d rather not do that…You see, retirement to me is getting out of the bar business. I’m keeping my mall, I love the mall, I love working on it. I’ve got good tenants,” he said.
Salmeri had also stayed connected to his early roots at the Inn at Six Mountains. He bought up condo units in tax and maintenance sales when he could. Back then the inn was 100% condo ownership. “We used to call it the Inn of 60 Mortgages,” Salmeri laughed.
In 2017 Salmeri and other ownership partners sold it to a hotel development company. That company, shortly thereafter, sold it again. It’s now called the Killington Mountain Lodge and is owned by Hilton, Tapestry Collection.
