Restaurant owner has long been a ‘flyboy’
Flyboys Deli owners say they strive to reflect Dayton’s inventive spirit.
Steve Crandall served as a self-described “flyboy” long before he and his wife Eunice Kim moved to Dayton from Maryland a decade ago.
Crandall, a retired Air Force colonel, and his wife, Eunice Kim, who worked in and managed deli-style restaurants on the East Coast for 15 years, decided shortly after they moved to Dayton to combine their passions and bring Dayton a unique deli experience. Thus, “Flyboys Deli” was born in Oakwood in 2013, with a design and decor that celebrate Dayton’s aviation heritage and its history as a cradle of invention.
A second location operated at the Mall at Fairfield Commons in Beavercreek until the end of 2019, but now the husband-andwife founders of Flyboys Deli have signed a lease to open a new restaurant on the ground floor of a CareSource building at 219 N. Patterson Boulevard in downtown Dayton. Plans call for the new restaurant to open later this year.
Crandall and Kim recently sat down with the Dayton Daily News to tell their story.
What’s a typical work day for you?
We focus on our strengths. Eunice concentrates on the kitchen aspects and Steve focuses on the business needs. The “kids,” Paul, Eunice’s son, and Sean, our son-in-law, manage the day-today operations.
What brought you to Dayton, and why you decided to settle in the area?
In 2010, we moved from Maryland. Steve was working for SAIC, supporting Air Force programs. Eunice noted that in 2013 there weren’t many delis locally, so she asked, “Why don’t we start one?” Steve said, jokingly, “What’s that?” We decided to move ahead. Steve thought, why not, at least one of us knows what she is doing!
What’s been your most recent professional challenge, and how did you push through the challenge?
The decision to close our Beavercreek location. We loved serving the Beavercreek community, particularly the Air Force folks and those who support them. Steve knew many of them and
on a bidet attachment without plumbing (it draws water from the toilet’s supply line) and electricity for the cost of toilet paper on EBay right now — $79 for a classic bidet and $109 for the warm water spa version.
As toilet paper has become scarce, Tushy’s sales have soared. (Both bidets, as well as Tushy’s line of bamboo toilet paper, were available online on “Black Friday,” but were sold out by Saturday. Pre-ordering is now available with shipping expected in late April.)
“Tushy’s sales over the past few weeks have grown from double to triple to more like 10-times what they were in weeks before word spread about TP shortages,” said Jason Ojalvo, CEO of Tushy. “This could be the tipping point that finally gets Americans to adopt the bidet. The reality is, once you use a bidet to clean after pooping you cannot go back to wiping and toilet paper. You’ve learned too much! Wiping seems not just inefficient, but also barbaric, by comparison.”
Several manufacturers, such as BioBidet, Tushy and Brondell, sell portable travel bidets for as low as $14.99. Brondell, which sells bidet attachments, hand-held bidet sprayers and luxurious bidet seats, has also seen a boost in sales in the wake of the pandemic.
“Overall, we have seen our sales demand increase about 300% over the past week across all of our retail channels,” said Daniel Lalley communications director for Brondell. “In the midst of this unprecedented toilet paper run, we’re really grateful for the opportunity to provide those who need them with smart solutions for toilet paper replacement. For the last 16 years, we’ve been passionate about educating the public on the environmental and cost benefits of switching from toilet paper to cleaner bidet alternatives.”
He said the company has no shortage of bidets right now and doesn’t foresee one in the future.
Meanwhile, the mad dash for toilet paper has created the social nudge for self-quarantined consumers to seek out bidets like Sonny, a Los Angeles startup that is in the process of developing a portable, personal handheld bidet.
Sonny founder Zack Levinson says he has seen an increase in sales over the past week despite being in pre-production. “With all of the precautions people are taking, behavior change is inevitable at a time like this,” he says. “We will not be shipping for a couple of months. People have been seeking us out organically, which has been an encouraging and positive sign of a new cultural shift in the bathroom which has only been accelerated by the developing COVID-19 pandemic.”