For over one hundred years, S. Walter Packaging has been known fas a trusted supplier of the finest retail packaging. Our full lines of retail boxes, shopping bags, gift wrap, and much more give us the largest in-stock array of retail packaging in North America. Hundreds of businesses trust their retail packaging need to us, and with an award-winning design team and friendly customer representatives, we never fail to provide top service.

But there is much more to S. Walter than just packaging. We also provide retailers and other businesses with the items they need to run a successful store: shipping supplies, hangers for clothes, price guns and tags, a range of wholesale ziplock bags, plastic shrink wrap supplies and ribbon dispenser racks. From clothes stores to jewelry stores to online businesses, these are items that retailers need, delivered with the same speedy shipping, competitive prices, and trusted service you’ve come to expect from our retail packaging orders.

Online orders are an increasingly important part of any business, and our shipping supplies make it a cinch to packaging your mailed sales as well as you package your in-store sales. Our must-have shipping supplies include corrugated boxes; bubble wrap, cushion pack rolls, and other packaging cushioning; pallet stretch film; mailing bags; paper cutters; and tape and tape dispensers — all at unbeatable wholesale prices.

Our company slogan is “carry your brand further,” so it’s perhaps fitting that we sell a range of clothes hangers and customizable garment bags, so you can display and package your clothing merchandise in style. Available hangers include dress hangers, shirt hangers, clipped hangers for pants or skirts, and many more. See our full range of wholesale clothes hangers in our online catalog.

It would be hard to sell clothes, or indeed any product, if the customer had no way of knowing the price. That is why we carry numerous price guns, clothes tags, and tagging guns for clothing retailers and other business. We offer Price Guns and Labels, Tagging Guns and Needles, Tag Fasteners and Barbs, and much more: everything you desire for all your pricing needs.

Visit our Retail Accessories page today to see how S. Walter Packaging can help your retail store do what it does best. At S. Walter, we know packaging, but that isn’t all we know!

S. Walter Packaging is now offering an affiliate marketing program. Our catalog includes approximately 4,000 high-quality retail packaging products, with full ranges of gift bags, merchandise bags, garment bags, jewelry boxes, gift wrap, colored tissue paper, and more. With the S. Walter affiliate program, you can market these popular products on your own website and get commission for every sale you direct to our site. Simply sign up with LinkConnector, an established and trusted associate manager, add links to your website, and begin earning referral fees now!

Visit our affiliate marketing page for more information.

S. Walter Packaging would like to wish everyone a very happy Hanukkah. Falling between December 1 and 9 in 2010 (the 25th day of Kislev in the Hebrew calendar), this festival of lights celebrates the re-dedication of the main Jewish temple in the second century BC. Celebrated in Judaism for over two millennia, Hanukkah (also spelled Chanukah) is now a firm part of the American holiday season, with such Hanukkah symbols as dreidels and menorah being almost as ubiquitous as Christmas trees and Thanksgiving turkeys.

We pay tribute to this celebration with our selection of Hanukkah gift wrap, part of our large collection of holiday gift wrap and other packaging. Currently in stock we have two attractive Hanukkah gift wrap designs: Chanukah Ribbons and Gold Star Chanukah.

Chanukah Ribbons gift wrap features waves of purple, greens, and blues with varied Star of David patterns. It’s bright and contemporary and subtly but surely Hanukkah themed. Chanukah Ribbons gift wrap is available in a range of convenient retail roll sizes at competitive wholesale prices.

Another attractive option, Gold Star Chanukah gift wrap features  golden Stars of David interspersed with gold swirls against a blue background, like a starry Hanukkah night.

These are just two of the many gorgeous gift wrap patterns offered online at swalter.com. We also carry a full range of packaging suitable for this and every holiday and event. Let the menorah burn and the gifts be plentiful this holiday season.

Deck the halls with bows of holly . . . and make sure you have plenty of gift wrap. You’ll need it this holiday season. It’s very much a symbol of the holiday period: the image of presents in wrapping paper laying under a fir tree.

S. Walter Packaging has dozens of holiday wrapping paper patterns from which to choose. Everything from traditional toile to modern stars, from subtle gold wrap to rambunctious snowman patterns. We’ve got secular Christmas gift wrap and Hanukkah gift wrap featuring star of David designs. The right look for kids, parents, grandparents, lovers, and coworkers. Here we take a look at some of our favorite holiday gift wrap designs.

In many ways, Christmas is all about kids. They are the ones who get most excited by the holiday, by the magical wait for Santa Claus and the wondrous joy of gift giving (or at least gift receiving!). S. Walter carries many gift wrap patterns specially designed for kids, not least of all in our Baby Gift Wrap sections, where you’ll find great wrapping papers for baby showers, Christenings, and baby’s first Christmas. For children who are a little older, our favorite is the Christmas for Kids Gift Wrap pattern. With Santa Claus, stockings, a cheerful snowman, and a plump cartoon reindeer, this Christmas wrapping paper covers all the seasonal bases.

The representation of Santa Claus has changed a lot over the years. A generous-hearted 4th-century Greek bishop, Saint Nicholas of Myra became the Sinterklaas of Dutch seasonal folklore. Anglicized to Santa Claus and merged with the English folk hero Father Christmas, the jolly old man became an indelible part of the holiday season, and a idol to kids across the country. Our special Christmas Toile Kraft Gift Wrap harks back to a traditional Good Saint Nick. This elegant gift wrap depicts a rustic scene, with a old time Santa Claus surrounded by animals. A soft red pattern on a natural kraft background, Christmas Toile Kraft Git Wrap is one for the ages.

Kraft makes for the pleasing background of some of our other favorite wrapping papers. Depicting classic holiday symbols using subtly bright reds, greens, and off-whites, these three kraft gift wraps are sure to please. Let it Snow! Kraft Gift Wrap features cheery snowmen, a stark Christmas tree, and a snowy scene. Best of all, the words “Let it Snow!” are repeated across the pattern. Little Trees Kraft Gift Wrap is a more simple choice, with pleasing little green Christmas trees repeated across the kraft background. Still simple, but a bit more fun is the Rudolph Kraft Gift Wrap displays a cartoonish reindeer with a familiar red nose against a background of snow. With the red noses the only touch of red, this is one reindeer who shines so bright!

Lastly, we pick out our favorite fun holiday gift wrap. The Winter Bells is a contemporary festive design, featuring playfully sketched holiday bells topped with bows and wreaths on a stark white background.  It’s a truly modern holiday gift wrap with a look to suit the times.

All these seasonal gift wraps are available in a range of sizes convenient for retail use, including full reams of 18″ and 24″, half reams of 18″ and 24″ and cutter box of 24″ x 100′. These wholesale gift wraps are priced competitively for business purchases.

In its 100+ years of service, many thousands of companies have trusted S. Walter Packaging Corp. for their retail packaging needs. Without their support, we would not have been able to grow into the most trusted supplier of retail packaging in North America. Through generations of management, listening to our customers has been a cherished company trait.

Now you can read some of the feedback we have received from our customers at our new “Customer Voice” section of our website.

This feature is part of our newly designed website, which includes easier-to-use navigation, an extensive look book, a large Closeout section, a custom Bag Builder, and this regularly updated packaging blog. Best of all, we have implemented a Value Pricing Program, analyzing online prices for all the products in our catalog, to ensure that our prices match or beat current market standards.

“As a leader in the retail packaging industry, we pride ourselves on technological innovation to serve our customers,” says John Dowers, Chief Executive Officer of S. Walter Packaging Corp. “The interactive tools on our fresh and exciting website demonstrate our commitment to find new ways that will help retailers carry their brand further.”

Check out the new website and the customer testimonial section now, or contact us to for your own opportunity to comment on and shape the direction of retail packaging. Visit swalter.com.

We value your feedback.

Check out the whole new SWalter.com, your resource for retail and promotional packaging. Our skilled design team has revamped the appearance and made the navigation easier than ever. Best of all, the redesigned site now offers a larger collection of stylish retail packaging products, including every item from S. Walter Packaging Corp.’s new 2010/2011 Packaging Resource Guide. Plus, you’ll find an array of great web-only features, including a just-launched Bag Builder which makes it easier than ever for retailers to create custom bags for their store.

S. Walter Packaging has over a century of experience supplying premium packaging to the retail industry, with customers at every level of the retail business, from Fifth Avenue designers to Main Street boutiques. The new Bag Builder feature enables even small retailers to imprint company logos or slogans on various styles and colors of shopping bags. Custom printed bags are a proven tool for companies to create and enhance brand loyalty, advertize their products, and ultimately increase revenue. Now retailers have access to a quick custom bag builder for orders of as few as 100 bags.

Other exciting new features include an extensive Look Book featuring samples of custom packaging from some of the country’s leading retailers (swalter.com/look-book); a customer testimonies section which provides retailers an opportunity to comment on and shape the direction of retail packaging; a large Closeout section, offering savings of 50% to 75% off original prices of items marked for inventory reduction; and this regularly updated blog, which features an ongoing guide to choosing and using key retail packaging items (read our last entry, on Die Cut Handle Bags).

As part of the planning for its 2010/2011 product catalog, S. Walter Packaging conducted an extensive review of the retail packaging marketplace, using proprietary tools to analyze online prices of all competitors’ offerings. This facilitated the implementation of a Value Pricing Program for the new Packaging Resource Guide mailed to nearly 18,000 customers across North America, lowering prices in every product category to beat or match current market standards. With large distribution centers in several states, S. Walter claims the largest active inventory of retail packaging products in the country. This size gives us great purchasing power, and these savings are now fully passed along to customers via the re-launched website.

Visit swalter.com today and start saving on the largest selection of premium retail packaging online. Another way that we are helping you Carry Your Brand Further.

Paper shopping bags are a mainstay of many retailers, used to advertise a store and develop brand image. They are also used for individual gift packaging, promotional pieces, or events. This installment in our series of packaging guides considers paper shopping bags and their many uses and forms.

Shopping bags come in many varieties. They are most often made from paper, but may be constructed from low-density polyethylene or other plastic (plastic shopping bags will be considered in a subsequent packaging guide). Even for paper shopping bags there is much choice of materials and finishes, from simple natural kraft paper to high gloss laminated colors. The choices range in price, but choosing the right look for your store can be about style as much as economics.

Paper shopping bags are available in a range of sizes. Their sizes are measured in three dimensions: width x side x height, so a standard 16x6x12 bag (known as Vogue-size), is 16 inches wide by 6 inches at the bottom and 13 inches high. A smaller size, perhaps 8x4x10 shopping bag, is known as Cub-size. Larger, squarer bags (such as 18x7x19 shoppers) are known as Queen-size bags. Most stores will do well to order their chosen style(s) in several sizes to package varied items.

The standard paper shopping bag has a flat bottom (often with a cardboard reinforcement), side gussets (a fold of paper which allows the bag to store flat and expand for use), and comes with two handles attached to the edges of the bag. Some paper shoppers, known as trapezoid shopping bags, taper from the top to bottom, so the top width is greater than the bottom width. Measurements for these bags are given as top width – bottom width x side x height, as in a 20-16x6x12 trapezoid shopper, where the top is 20 inches and the bottom width is 16 inches. (A less-used variety, known as the inverted trapezoid, has a longer bottom than top.)

As a standard, paper shopping bags come with twisted paper handles in white, natural tan, or matching the color of the shopper. Other handles are also available, the most popular alternative being macrame or braided handles. Usually found in combination with laminated paper folded over at the top, a cardboard reinforced bottom, and metal grommets (rings which strengthen the paper at the handle), rope handles are the defining characteristic of Euro-style paper shopping bags. Also known as eurototes, Euro-shoppers signify a more refined packaging look and are common in high-end retailers or for use as gift bags.

More expensive than grocery sacks or T-shirt bags, paper shopping bags were traditionally limited to stores marketing expensive merchandise who wanted to promote their store and brand. Today, clothing and giftware retailers use paper shopping bags as functional packaging and a sure-fire way to establish an upscale image. Fine jewelry and cosmetic retailers use small sizes of paper shoppers as part of their packaging program. Even supermarkets, especially ones in areas that have a large walking trade, choose paper shopping bags over traditional, less expensive SOS grocery bags.

This bag style also offers a wide variety of end uses that far exceed the traditional retailer’s need to package purchased goods. Paper shopping bags, especially in smaller sizes, can be used as stand-alone gift bags, replacing a gift box. When constructed of colorful paper, or printed with unique designs, the bag is a quick and creative way to wrap a gift. Retail paper shopping bags can also popular with non-retail businesses to use as a promotional piece, or as a give-away when introducing new products, or when exhibiting at trade shows or industry conventions.

—

If you enjoyed this guide to paper shopping bags, you’ll love:
Packaging Guide to Merchandise Bags
Packaging Guide to Grocery Bags (SOS Bags)

We will be adding more packaging guides to different varieties of retail packaging available in at SWalter.com. Bookmark this blog or subscribe to our feed to catch the latest articles.

What can retail packaging do for your store? How do I coordinate the look of my bags, boxes, and other retail packaging accessories? What have other retailers or companies done with their packaging program?

The Look Book on swalter.com provides a peak at over 40 retail packaging programs constructed using the products in our catalog or assembled with the aid of our Creative Department and packaging specialists.

Browsing through the interactive look book allows viewers to see how other companies solved their packaging problems. Businesses that have used S. Walter Packaging Corp. include luxury car dealers, high-end retailers, restaurants, sports leagues, universities, hotels, tourist attractions, spas, and fortune 500 companies. There are a selection of retailers, but also many examples of promotional packaging.

Some common trends for retail packaging featured in the Look Book include the use of large, tastefully designed logos, often repeated. Many different kings of bags and boxes can be used. White bags can be dressed up with colorful printings; colored bags can be emblazoned with small or large designs. Companies generally choose several different sizes of bags and boxes, sometimes of different but matching colors. Accompanying boxes do not have to be the same hue as the bags, they can coordinate without matching. Or some bags and boxes can have a Color A printed on a Color B background, while others have Color B printed on a Color A background. Many retailers use tissue paper to further spruce up the packaging look.

The Look Book provides a photo gallery of exceptional packaging, all of it used in real world stores. The companies featured in the S. Walter Look Book have made a decision to use retail packaging not just as functional carriers (though the sturdy bags and boxes featured in the photo gallery certainly fit this requirement). Instead they use their packaging program to create and enhance a brand identity, encourage customer loyalty, and utilize a readily available advertising space.

Browse through this gallery of images (there is a easy-to-use slideshow option), to get ideas for your own retail packaging program (there are some examples to the right of this article). Or for more help, contact one of our packaging specialists today and see how we at S. Walter Packaging can put our experience to work for you, designing retail or promotional bags and boxes that will truly “carry your brand further.”

There are a wide variety of paper and plastic bags available for retail use, with an option to fit any business, from high-end clothing store to neighborhood hardware shop. This was not always the case. When Simon Walter founded his packaging supply company in Philadelphia in 1904 – the company that would become S. Walter Packaging Corp. – choices for retailers were severely limited. Remarkably, the sturdy grocery bag, or SOS bag, is a packaging option from that time that remains as durable in its popularity as in its carrying strength. In this, the second installment of our guide to packaging choices, we examine the uses and options that grocery bags provide.

S.Walter’s original business centered around supplying retailers with kraft paper products. Generally, purchases would be wrapped in this paper and tied up with string (The word kraft is derived from the German for “strong,” kraft paper’s defining characteristic was and remains it’s strength.) To allow customers to carry home more items, and therefore  make larger purchases, inventive retailers developed sturdy SOS bags.

Today SOS bags are still most often constructed of white or natural kraft paper, but may also be made of high density plastic. (SOS is alternatively said to abbreviate “self opening style,” “self opening sacks,” and even “self opening square-bottomed.”) When folded, grocery bags are flat. Folded out, they remain flat on the bottom, with side gussets (a “gusset” is a fold of paper that allows for side expansion), and will remain open and in an upright position without assistance. This provides the end user with an easy-to-load bag capable of holding heavy and/or bulky products.

The bag size will usually determine the possible end-uses of this extremely versatile bag style. In larger sizes, these sturdy SOS bags are used by grocery and hardware stores, discount stores, lumber yards, craft stores, shoe, toy, and sporting goods stores, and potentially any retailer selling bulky or heavy products. In small sizes, the SOS bag may be a carry-out food bag, a lunch bag, and even a gift bag.

The dimensions of SOS and grocery bags are given using width x side gusset x height, so a 7×4½x14 SOS bag has a bottom 7 inches by 4½ inches and is 14-inches tall. This can also be given as 7×4½x14x4½ (the two 4½ measurements referring to the side and the bottom gusset dimensions, usually the same).

More image conscious retailers generally stay away from SOS bags or grocery sacks, choosing stylish options like eurototes or high-gloss shoppers. Grocery bags are considered to be primarily functional packaging, and are rarely used by upscale retailers selling high-end merchandise. That said, small add-ons can make SOS bags an attractive packaging option for a variety of retailers. Using custom labels with store logo or information to close the SOS bag, especially a white kraft paper bag, can transform it into an elegant gift bag. Likewise, printing company logos or info onto the bag adds an element of class to the bag and utilizes an easy advertising opportunity.

—

If you enjoyed this packaging guide to grocery bags, check out our packaging guide to merchandise bags. Bookmark this blog or subscribe to our feed as we provide more packaging guides to popular retail products in the weeks to come.

The value of a custom packaging is well known. Leading fashion stores use custom bags to create brand identity, gain an outlet for out-of-store advertising, and ultimately increase revenue. Custom bags can publicize a logo and engender customer loyalty. And an attractive, quality shopping bag is more likely to be reused, making for an enduring advertising platform.

It is not only national retail chains who can create a custom packaging program, the new Bag Builder from S. Walter makes it easier than ever to create custom bags for your store.  Imprint your company logo or slogan on bags of a various styles and colors. It’s an easy way to carry your brand further!

S. Walter Packaging proudly introduces our new SWalter.com exclusive. Customize your bag now in just a few easy steps:

1. Choose a bag style (options include all our most popular paper and plastic shopping bags, including frosted colorlucent plastic bags, high-gloss colored paper-twist handled shoppers, and simple natural kraft paper merchandise bags, plus many more).
2. Choose the bag size (anything from small postcard-sized carriers to large Fifth Avenue-style shoppers).
3. Select the bag color (use your company’s special color scheme and find matching boxes, tissue, ribbons, and bows in our collection for a full coordinated packaging program).
4. Pick the ink or hot stamp color (both printing styles available in a variety of attractive colors).
5. Upload your existing logo (easy as putting a photo on Facebook or adding an attachment to an email).
6. Add text (a variety of fonts, including stylish Helvetica, allow you to put a slogan for a special event or sale).
7. Specify front or back printing and quantity (best of all, this great feature is available on short-runs of as little as a few hundred bags).
8. Fill out Customer Information for a quote (our friendly sales team will get back to you promptly with a competitive price).

It’s as easy as 1-2-3 (well, 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8)! Visit the Bag Builder today to explore the possibilities and get started now. Click here to start.

The Bag Builder is the perfect spot to explore, visualize, and create the ideal packaging. If you like this article, you’ll like our blog post on Custom Bags.