Darrell and Nicola Liddington – owners of Te Awamutu’s Kiwi Pies – at their shop last week. Work continues there daily since a fire last month as they aim to re-open by late August.
A community rallying around one of its own is likely why Te Awamutu’s Darrell and Nicola Liddington aren’t “standing here looking absolutely broken right now”.
Having already had their doors shut for a month as of last Sunday – at a time when they and their seven staff would usually make up to 3000 pies daily – the long-time owners of the Kiwi Pies store face a stark reality.
They’ll likely remain closed for another three.
A late August reopening is pencilled in as repairs continue following a fire last month which caused extensive damage to the Rickit Rd building occupied by both Kiwi Pies and a gym.
It’s understood pallets were placed beside an outside wall of the building and set alight. Police arrested two teenagers in connection with the incident.
That time frame means Kiwi Pies will miss their busy spell – May through August.
The loss of revenue is already “massive”.
“Everyone needs a good pie in winter. So yes, we’re certainly shut during our peak, busy, time. No doubt,” Darrell said.
Police tape cordoned of the front of the torched building in April.
“It’s hard to put an exact monetary value on the business we’ve lost. At this time of year, we’re normally flat tack providing pies to sports clubs and schools, as well as a wide range of wholesale customers. We’ve just, simply, been unable to do any of that.”
Despite numerous challenges, the Liddingtons never considered permanently closing.
“This wonderful community has always been good to us. We’ve had amazing support throughout the 15 years we’ve been here,” Nicola said.
“Since bouncing back from the Covid-19 pandemic, through until the fire, we’d had a really good run. And within 24 hours of the fire, the community rallied around us again.
“People contacted us, even walking in off the street, offering whatever expressions of help they could.
“And, we have to thank our staff,” Nicola added. “They’re like family. And, let’s be honest, this turns their worlds upside down too.”
So far, the Liddingtons have managed to keep those staff on the payroll despite the closure.
The couple vividly remember a “pretty mind blowing” realisation after arriving at the building on the night of the fire.
“We saw the fire trucks leaving, I looked at Darrell and said, “…how bad is this?” We had no idea,” Nicola recalls.
The fire-damaged Kiwi Pies shop.
Since then though, they’ve felt buoyed on many fronts.
Builders, and a wide range of other tradesmen, are making repairs – and daily progress – with the August deadline in mind.
“All we can say is we’re so grateful,” Nicola said.
The Kiwi Pies team completes every part of the pie-making progress on site, by hand.
Once the building is repaired, one of the other major hurdles to re-opening is sourcing replacements for specialist bakery equipment lost in the fire.
Darrell estimates that bill alone to be about $400,000. Two key components they need to replace include an oven – worth about $70,000 which comes from Italy – and a pastry break – which rolls out the freshly made pastry.
“We order every ingredient, and from peeling onions and carrots, through to the finished pies, our team does everything from scratch.” Nicola said.
Darrell said acquiring a new oven could take up to 20 weeks, so he’s investigating spreading up the re-opening process by using some rented equipment until permanent replacements arrive.
He’s factoring in time to get used to that rental equipment and complete some successful test bakes before Kiwi Pies opens its doors to the public again.
“We’re really looking forward to welcoming people back.”
