The Kite Company — Attraction in Newport

We travel fulltime in an RV and happened upon this shop while visiting Newport. My sons and I went in to check it out and see if we could find something for when we go to the beach.

For clarity, we are terrible kite fliers. If there are professional kite fliers, we are the anti-professional version.

We had meandered about the shop for a bit and were having a small disagreement on which kite we should buy because I thought having a huge flying shark was way more entertaining than the bird kite my kid wanted. Alas, we were at an impasse.

That’s when one of the employees happened upon us and we lamented our disagreement. Well, after listening to our wants, he did not suggest either of those two kites. Instead, he suggested a whole different kite, much to mine and my child’s disappointment.

But, while listening to our kite differences, we mentioned we had two kites that we had bought from a box store that we had the hardest time flying due to the handle. And that we are terrible at kite flying. My older son went and got the two kites from our vehicle while the employee showed me new handle options.

When my son brought the kite in, the employee took the kite back to their workshop area, where I believe one of the owners looked at it. She fixed one of the cross pieces and recommended a better handle, as well as looked over the kites to make sure they were “healthy”. They were.

We then discussed the kites, how to fly and when to fly them.I appreciated the honesty about the kites we had as being decent quality. Frankly, we could have just bought two new handles and been good. But, we ended up agreeing on the one they had first recommended and buying it, plus two handles for our old kites.

Well, the two new handles haven’t been opened yet because the three of us fight over this kite. It’s super easy to fly, packs up compactly, and has yet to five bomb any of us, or other beach goers. Success!

Thank you for helping us find something we all like. It’s a huge accomplishment! And for not trying to upsell us something we didn’t really need. I sincerely appreciate the honesty about the kites we already had and helping us make...

went back next day and they said the kite was defective and it wasn't me! Swapped out for the new kite and they put it mostly together this time to make sure there were no issues. Of course, it's been raining ever since so still no kite flying. It's nice when things work out right the first time. *boyfriend bought me a kite for my birthday and we go to the beach, try to get it together and this little bar has to go all the way around the nose from some weird non middle entry point while also going in the opposite direction? The directions were no help. Yes you say there is a hole there but not how to get the two points in at the same time without that thin flexible wire breaking. And because we don't have years of experience putting kites together, the thing broke in my hands. So thanks for a $36 piece of crap that requires years of kite building experience or a degree in engineering to figure out. Birthday kite flying...

We saw the colorful store and turned around to stop in (easy parking one block down the hill even for RV). We are so glad we did. We purchased several nice kites and other wind decorations. We purchased nicer, steerable kites and were surprised when we were offered a short training session on the care and use of the kites. At first we thought, we have been flying kites since we were kids, what could we learn. We were wrong, in less than 20 minutes we learned how to attach the strings properly, how to reduce the chances of damaging our kites, how to put them away and store them to make the next use easier (no tangled lines), and how to control the kites once they are in the air. The assistance provided in finding the right kites and the extra guidance made for a great kite flying experience. While we went for the nicer kites, there is also a great selection of kites for all ages and...