An Arnold tea room will be transforming into a micro bar in a "last ditch effort" to keep the business afloat. Brown Bird Bakery closed its doors at the weekend for the makeover.
The premises, in Croft Road, will reopen next week as The Saxton, serving cocktails, beer, cider, wine, coffee, cakes and food. It's 18 months since owner Nikki Saxton opened the bakery and tea room but since then there's been an influx of competitors arriving in the town.
She said: "It was sink or swim and the micro bar was the swim option. Arnold High Street is just saturated now. From when we opened to currently there have been four more cake shops and cafes pop up. We just thought there is too much. Revival Coffee has just shut. We didn't want to go down the same route so it was a last ditch attempt to keep us afloat. There's just too many cafes in Arnold.
Read more: Rarely seen Nottingham caves set to open to public as part of Being Human Festival
Work has begun to refurbish the property, changing the appearance inside and out to create the 30-seater venue. "The new name will be going up by the end of the week. We are having all new furniture, new decor. We are keeping the flower wall as that's a statement piece that people will recognise. Everything else is changing.
"We're trying to do the decor to encourage more men in because it was very pink, very floral before, so we are going dark greens and really changing it up," said Nikki.
She hopes the beer pumps will be installed in time for opening but there's a slight chance they could be delayed but in the meantime there will be plenty of bottled ales for drinkers to sup. Cocktails will be the real deal, made from scratch, rather than from a pump, with a two for £10 offer.
Initially jacket potatoes, paninis, sandwiches and toasties will be served but further down the line burger and chips will be added to the menu. The good news for cake fans is that Brown Bird Bakery will still be operating upstairs to provide a range of cakes for the counter as well as fulfilling orders for wedding cakes.
Nikki said: "We will still have the cakes. Brown Bird Bakery will still be run from upstairs so we are not closing it down as a brand. We will bake for the counter, just not in the same capacity as before. Arnold has a very big drinking scene and we we wanted to be part of that and to offer proper cocktails."
The decision to switch has been an anxious time. Nikki said: "When we took it over from the vape shop we put a lot of money into transforming it in the bakery and the thought of losing that was just heart-breaking so we have managed to scrap together some extra money to do the refurb. It is stressful but we are positive and everybody we have spoken to thinks it's an amazing idea, even outsiders that you just have a chat to in the street.
"We were walking down the high street the other day and people were congratulating us on switching it to a bar. We are going to be more of a micro bar than a micro pub as we're not going to be doing craft ales.
"I think we're in a good spot as people cut through to the chip shop we're there. We have quite a late licence until 12 o'clock which is excellent We have a music licence and are just really excited to get it all going now."
It's not the first time alcohol has been served there as temporary licences have been granted for events including bottomless brunches. That should continue, along with Ladies' Night and the Monday club. The Saxton will launch on Wednesday, November 16.
"We are tweaking opening times but we hope to announce them by the end of this week. We are hoping to open during the day as there is still call for that," said Nikki.
With thoughts turning to Christmas celebrations, private hire is being offered to groups of 20 to 30 on Monday and Tuesday nights during November and December costing £20 per person for a drink and buffet. Cakes will be on sale at Arnold market each Saturday in the run-up to Christmas and Nikki hopes to return to Ruddington market with the sweet treats in 2023.
READ NEXT:
