As Bitterne Park Stores and The Songbird cafe close for good, new plans for the units – and a celebratory event - have been revealed.

As reported in January, Songbird owners Jackie and Chas Tomlin said the cafe was “no longer viable for us to continue to keep it going financially”.

Now the owners of Compton’s Cocktail Bar, over the road, plan to transform the Songbird premises into The Pink Olive cafe, which they expect to open at the beginning of June.

 Bitterne Park Stores, which will continue trading under its Bitterne Box Co home delivery brand, and The Songbird. 

William Smith, who runs The Little Hair Co on Cobden Avenue and is also part of the Compton's team, said the vision is for a daytime operation largely focusing on brunch from Wednesdays to Sunday.

Menu items are likely to include “healthy bowls”, special coffees, matcha, waffles, crepes and iced drinks. Some ice cream will still be available, he said, but it won’t have the same emphasis as before.

 Compton's Cocktail Bar

The kitchen will also be used to create a tapas-style offering in the evenings for Compton’s.

Tommy Compton added that the current Songbird interior will be completely renovated: “It’s going to be fully decorated so that, in the same style as what we do here [at Compton’s] … something which is more relaxing, pleasing to the eye, and it will feel like a cafe, but it will feel more of a bougie restaurant, cafe style. There’s going to be a lot of colour,” he said.

The aim is to create a welcoming space, whether people want to relax with a coffee while working during the day, or come in for a meal.

Little Hair Co

Meanwhile, the Little Hair Co on Cobden Avenue is set to move into the Bitterne Park Stores unit once it has been refurbished. Work is expected to start shortly, with the salon planned to open at the new location at the start of May.

William explained that the salon opened in June 2019, but it was largely to work by himself. The business has since grown and is very busy - at times four people have been working at once in the small space.

 Crowds at Christmas in the Triangle in December

But the changes at the Triangle won’t stop with the cafe and salon moves. An event - Compton’s Garden Party - is also planned in June to celebrate the café’s opening, the ‘official’ launch of Compton’s, and the hair salon’s relocation, which never had a launch party - creating a single community celebration for all three.

“All three essentially together. Music, bands, stage, we’ll have ice cream out the front … part road closure,” said Tommy.

“It’s a nice community event again. Because everyone’s going to benefit along here. And it’s totally free,” he added.

Running from noon until 11pm, it follows the success of last ‘Christmas in the Triangle’, which Compton’s helped organise alongside other traders, local churches and the wider community.

More details on acts and the programme are expected soon.