A toy shop bag has a harder job than most. It has to hold a bulky box with sharp corners, survive a parent carrying it with one hand while holding a child with the other, and look cheerful enough to be part of a present. It also has to be ready in large numbers twice a year, when back-to-school and New Year shopping arrive. This guide covers what to consider when choosing paper bags for toy stores and children’s shops: sizes, constructions, colour, handles, documents and timing.
What makes children’s retail different
Compared with fashion or cosmetics, a toy and children’s store sells a wider mix of shapes and sizes:
- Boxed toys of every format, from small cubes to large, flat board games and long boxes.
- Soft toys and clothing, light but bulky.
- School supplies: notebooks, pencil cases, backpacks, often bought together.
- Gifts, where the bag itself is part of the present.
The bag range has to cover this mix without turning into a dozen sizes that confuse staff at the till.
Sizing paper bags for toy stores
Start with your best-selling items, not with a catalogue. Measure the boxes that account for most of your sales and group them. Most stores end up with three working sizes:
- Small: small toys, books, stationery, accessories.
- Medium: construction sets, dolls in boxes, typical board games.
- Large: big boxed sets, large vehicles and playsets, multiple purchases.
Pay attention to the shape as well as the volume. Board games and puzzles are wide and flat, so the bag needs width more than depth. Tall boxes need height so the handles still meet above the box. A box that is forced in diagonally strains the bag and looks careless. If one boxed product sells in very large numbers, a size made to its dimensions may be worth considering.
Strong constructions for heavy and awkward loads
Boxed toys are often heavier than they look, and their corners press on the base and the sides of the bag. Block-bottom bags with a rectangular base are the usual choice: the box stands flat on the base, and the bag stays upright at the till while it is being filled. With twisted paper handles, the bag is comfortable to carry; flat paper handles give a cleaner look for lighter goods such as clothing and soft toys.
Tell your manufacturer the weight and dimensions of the heaviest box or set you sell, so that the paper and construction are chosen for the real load. During production, our quality control checks density, strength, dimensions and print quality.
Bright colours that work on paper
Children’s retail is about colour, and paper bags for toy stores can carry it well, provided the design suits the printing method.
- Solid Pantone colours. We print by flexography, with up to eight colours on one press. Bright solid fills in Pantone colours give strong, consistent results from order to order.
- Simple shapes and patterns. Stars, dots, stripes, simple illustrations and bold lettering work very well.
- Avoid gradients and photographs. Smooth colour transitions and photographic images do not reproduce well on kraft paper. A character drawn in solid colours will look better than a photo of the toy.
- Choose the paper with the colours in mind. Bleached kraft makes colours brighter; natural kraft gives a warmer, softer look.
- Print inside the bag. A pattern or a short message inside is a small surprise for the child who opens it.
For an example of how colour works across the whole bag, see our coloured paper bags with twisted handles. Remember to supply the artwork as print-ready vector files (AI, EPS or PDF); we do not design artwork, but our prepress team checks the files before printing.
Dyed handles
Twisted or flat paper handles can be dyed in any colour from 10,000 pieces. For a children’s store, this is an easy way to add a bright accent to a kraft bag or to coordinate the handles with the main print colour. Some retailers use one handle colour for everyday bags and another for the festive season.
Safety and documents
Parents and procurement teams pay attention to what children’s products come in. Our bags are made of paper with paper handles, without cords or ribbons, and we can provide documents that support your own checks:
- an EAEU Declaration of Conformity under TR CU 005/2011 on packaging safety;
- ISO 9001 certification for our quality management system.
Both are available on our certificates page. Note that these documents cover the packaging; the toys themselves are covered by their own documents.
Plan for the seasonal peaks
Toy and children’s stores have two clear peaks: back to school at the end of summer and New Year. Both arrive at the same time for everyone, so production schedules fill up. A new printed order takes about three to four weeks from artwork approval: printing plates take three to five days, printing and assembly ten to fourteen days. Add time for the brief and the artwork.
- Back to school: if you are reading this in early August, a new design is still possible only if the artwork is ready and approved within days. Otherwise, reorder your existing design, which reuses existing plates and approved colours.
- New Year: for festive bags in stores at the beginning of December, aim to have the order confirmed in early November, with the brief and artwork prepared in October.
Custom-printed bags are produced from 30,000 units, and our production capacity is 120 million bags a month. Plan quantities per store with the peak weeks in mind: a reorder in mid-December rarely arrives in time. We deliver in Moscow and by carriers across Russia. More on packaging for shops is on our retail page.
The bottom line
Paper bags for toy stores need to handle bulky, heavy boxes, look bright and cheerful, and be ready for the season. Choose two or three sizes based on your best-selling boxes, use block-bottom constructions with paper handles for heavier loads, build the design on solid Pantone colours, and plan your back-to-school and New Year orders well before the peaks.
Preparing for the season? Send us your sizes and quantities, and we will prepare a quotation and a delivery date.