The owner of a well-known pie and coffee shop that relocated to Langley after a headline-making fight with the Chilliwack airport quietly closed the business on Saturday after posting the announcement to a Facebook page for customers and friends of “I Fly For Pie.”.
“I wanted to close on my terms, without the drama,” Judi Good told Black Press.
In her announcement she cited “a few health issues (that) I need to deal with.”
The move to Langley followed a drawn-out dispute with the Chilliwack airport management, previously reported by Black Press, that Good declined to discuss or comment on.
The dispute saw her and her two sisters duct-taping themselves to the restaurant patio to protest a decision to go ahead with tree removal and pulling up the concrete on the coffee shop patio over their objections.
At the time, the airport management told Black Press the work on the patio had to be done for safety reasons, saying the concrete was cracked and presented a tripping hazard and the pine trees were overgrown and at risk of falling.
The Chilliwack Airport is owned by the City of Chilliwack but is run under a long-term lease by Magnum Management. That Magnum contract was taken over by local businessman Bryan Kirkness in 2013.
After 36 years in operation, following the public disagreement, the airport management refused to extend the coffee shop’s lease, forcing a shutdown and the move to Langley and a smaller space next to the Canadian Museum of Flight.
“The last few years have been pretty stressful … there was no break,” Good said Sunday.
Recreational pilots across B.C. used to make a point of landing at Chilliwack because of the coffee shop and its famous “I Fly for Pie” logo.
The shop sold over 60 varieties of pies, everything from lemon meringue, berry varieties, salted caramel, dark chocolate and their flapper pie, apple, coconut banana and key lime.
They were known for their ‘weekend’ pies, their ‘I Fly For Pie’ mugs and T-shirts.
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Good said she wanted to make it clear that she had no complaints about the way she was treated by the Langley airport owned by the Township of Langley.
“The Township was phenomenal,” she said.
“They’re fantastic people.”
For now, Good, who has been commuting from Chilliwack to Langley to operate the cafe, plans to sleep in and maybe take a vacation trip.
“Just take a deep breath.”
She and her sisters will continue to do catering work and she expects they will go back into the coffee shop business at some undetermined time and place in the future.
“We’ll be back at it.”
On the last day of business at the Langley shop, Good posted a thank-you message online to her supporters and customers.
“Today I was reminded how blessed I really am,” the message read.
“I have so many people to thank. The Canadian Museum of Flight, everyone at YNJ (Langley airport), every other airport and pilot that still supported my little pie shop. The Township of Langley, everyone near and far that came in to see me. I am so thankful for all the hugs, tears and well wishes. I will keep you posted on The Airport Coffee Shops next move soon. Thank you for everything xx.”
Good said she understands someone has agreed to take over the restaurant space and has plans to re-open with a different menu around the end of November.
dan.ferguson@langleytimes.com
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