Bay Cities Packaging and POP Display Mfg

Bay Cities is a 100% employee-owned packaging and point of purchase display company headquartered in Los Angeles, with facilities in Los Angeles, Chicago (Oak Forest, IL), and Bentonville. Founded in 1956, Bay Cities has spent nearly 70 years helping brands make bold first impressions at retail and through the distribution channel.

As a direct manufacturer, Bay Cities is vertically integrated from paper mill to packout. That means design, structural engineering, graphic print, corrugate manufacturing, assembly, kitting, ISTA transit testing, and logistics all happen under one roof. No handoffs, no intermediaries, no finger pointing.

Bay Cities is a recommended and preferred vendor at Walmart, Kroger, Costco, Sam's Club, Target, Petco, CVS, Home Depot, HyVee, Whole Foods, and Total Wine. The company operates 648,000 square feet of combined production and warehouse space, including the new 233,199 square foot Midwest Packout facility in Oak Forest, IL, opening February 2026.

Employee ownership drives accountability. Every team member has a stake in the outcome, which translates into a 99.84% execution quality rate and an average 100% OTIF score with top retailers.

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CAPABILITIES

Design and Engineering

• In-house structural and graphic design team of 32 designers
• 3D rendering and augmented reality
• Concept development and prototyping
• Next-day samples

Manufacturing and Print

• Direct corrugate manufacturing (vertically integrated)
• Litho-laminated die cuts
• Digital printing
• Flexo printing
• G7-certified color management

Packaging Types

• Retail and club store packaging (Costco, Sam's Club, BJ's)
• Industrial and protective packaging
• E-commerce and subscription boxes
• Beverage and wine packaging (including EcoVino)
• Specialty and experiential packaging
• Direct print shippers
• Blister packs and vacuum trays

Point of Purchase Displays

• Pallet displays
• Floor displays
• Endcaps and side stacks
• Signage kits and in-store graphics
• Shelf-ready packaging

Packout, Kitting, and Assembly

• High-volume packout programs
• Multi-component kitting and gift set assembly
• Subscription box assembly
• Complex hand assembly
• Lot traceability and quality rework

Testing and Compliance

• Two in-house ISTA-certified transit testing labs (Los Angeles and Bentonville)
• FDA, BRC Global Standard, AIB International food safety GMP
• FSC and SFI certified sourcing
• TAPA (Transportation Asset Protection Association)
• USDA Organic, California State Board of Pharmacy, California ABC

Logistics and Supply Chain

• Coast-to-coast co-pack partner network
• Inbound and outbound tracking
• Direct import program (overseas container to retail shelf through one facility)
• Retail program management

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PROBLEMS BAY CITIES SOLVES

Lead times that kill opportunities. Competitors quote 8 to 12 weeks on custom packaging and displays. Bay Cities turns projects in 2 to 4 weeks. When Walmart needs 325 signage kits produced and shipped for a Texas Bowl activation, Bay Cities delivers in weeks, not months.

Retailer compliance headaches. Walmart, Target, Costco, Sam's Club, and Kroger each have their own packaging specifications, pallet configurations, and freight requirements. Bay Cities is a recommended vendor at all of them and handles compliance as standard practice, not as a special project.

Shipping damage and returns. Packaging that looks great but fails in transit costs brands money and reputation. Two in-house ISTA-certified labs test every design for drop, vibration, compression, and environmental exposure before it ships, so what leaves the dock arrives intact.

Fragmented vendors. Most brands juggle separate vendors for design, corrugate, display manufacturing, ISTA testing, kitting, packout, and fulfillment. Bay Cities does all of it under one roof. One partner, one point of contact, one set of specifications.

Overseas supply chain complexity. Direct import products typically move through multiple warehouses before reaching retail, adding cost, time, and risk at every touch. Bay Cities receives imported goods directly from the port, manufactures the retail packaging on-site, packs out in the same facility, and ships straight to the retailer.

Multi-vendor pallet programs. Walmart, Target, HEB, and Meyers run multi-vendor pallet programs that require a neutral vendor of record. Bay Cities holds that position at major retailers and coordinates multiple brands into a single compliant pallet display.

In-house packout that eats overhead. Brands that pack in-house carry the full cost of facility, equipment, labor, certifications, and seasonal capacity even when volume drops. Bay Cities absorbs that overhead and flexes with demand, so brands pay for what they use.

Sustainability targets with no clear path. Bay Cities corrugate is composed of more than 90% post-consumer material and is 100% recyclable, with FSC and SFI certified sourcing. The Encorr corrugator is powered by off-energy from the New Indy Paper Mill, which eliminates additional greenhouse gas emissions. Brands hit their sustainability goals without sacrificing print quality or structural integrity.

Speed-to-market pressure. Retailers set the calendar. Holiday resets, seasonal launches, and promotional windows do not move. Bay Cities' in-house design-to-delivery workflow compresses timelines that slower competitors cannot match.

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