“We are deeply saddened to announce that Eunice and I will be closing our Flyboys Beavercreek location on the 31st of December,” Steve Crandall said in an email to this news outlet. “New plans and arrangements are already in the works for opening our new location in downtown Dayton in the spring of 2020.”
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Crandall and his wife, Eunice Kim, opened the Fairfield Commons Mall deli, a second location for Flyboys, in January 2018. Its original Oakwood location, Crandall said, is “stronger than ever” and will not be impacted by the closing of the Beavercreek restaurant.
Expenses at the 7,400-square-foot Fairfield Commons restaurant, combined with slow sales in the evening, were the primary factors in the decision to close, Crandall said.
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“We want to thank all the customers across the Beavercreek region that came into Flyboys and made wonderful memories with us,” Crandall said. “We very much enjoyed seeing many old friends as well as meeting new friends along the way.”
Crandall said he will disclose more specifics soon about the new downtown Dayton restaurant. “I think its going to be an exciting location,” he said.
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Crandall and his wife opened the first Flyboys Deli at 2515 Far Hills Ave. in Oakwood in January 2013. Both it and the Beavercreek location evoke a New York-style deli, with a design and decor that celebrate Dayton’s aviation heritage and its history as a cradle of invention.
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Crandall is a retired U.S. Air Force colonel; he and his wife moved to the Dayton area from Maryland in 2010. Eunice Kim spent 10 years as owner or manager of delis in Maryland and Washington, D.C. area prior to coming to Dayton, and she served as manager for about a month of Flyboys Deli’s predecessor in Oakwood, Cooper’s Deli.
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