Pleasant Surprise is a recreational shopping delight

For shopping that is anything but an errand, there is Pleasant Surprise. For over a dozen years on Thayer Street and nearly 40 at Newport’s Brick Market Place, this eclectic store has been providing unsuspecting patrons with everything they never knew they needed. Packed from top to bottom with neatly arranged displays, find quirky gifts, toys, chuckle-inducing greeting cards, home accessories, T-shirts, and much more. Owner Mark Goldrick describes the shop’s design sensibility as “a combination of the contemporary with the nostalgic,” and adds, “We are making a concerted effort to have each store have its own identity; however some [lines] are repeated but mixed with different products. Right now we are selling lots of planters, candles, and socks!”

PLEASANT SURPRISE • 297 Thayer Street • 121 Swinburne Row, Newport