Blog

Articles on designing your own custom merch, growing your brand, and managing manufacturing as a small business.

Back to School Store Ideas

July 28, 2022

Don’t stress about capitalizing on the back-to-school craze. We have all the best ideas for your back-to-school season merch!

The back-to-school market is one you don’t want to miss out on. But it’s not always easy to think of ideas for your custom back-to-school products! If this is a problem you’re running into, then we wrote this article for you.

Back to School is a HUGE Industry

We touched on this in our previous blog, but just to remind you, the back-to-school industry is HUGE. Remember, in 2021, the back-to-school shopping market reached $37.1 billion, according to the National Retail Federation.

So, the season is a major opportunity for both fashion brands and retailers of all stripes. You need to get ahead of the curve though, because most schools head back in August or September, and back-to-school shopping ends for good in mid-September. To make sure your orders arrive in time, you need to place any custom product orders ASAP.

Back to School Store Ideas

Back-to-school isn’t the easiest trend to capitalize on. Luckily, we’ve been doing this for quite a while. The/Studio has a SLEW of solid product ideas for you to take advantage of. Fashion brands and retailers, this blog is for you! Here are some custom product ideas for back to school season:

Custom Patches

You can create a variety of different designs with custom patches. Students can wear patches on their backpacks or adhere them to just about any apparel. Better yet, you can sell patches by themselves on a backer card or you can adhere them to apparel and sell the apparel directly!

LEARN MORE

Custom Lapel Pins

Compact, lightweight, and easy to make, lapel pins are ideal for a plethora of different designs. Like patches, students can wear them on their jackets or backpacks, and you can sell them by themselves or on backer cards.

LEARN MORE

Custom Keychains

You can create a variety of different designs with keychains, just like lapel pins and patches. Keychains can be sold individually or pre-attached to backpacks (if your brand sells backpacks).

LEARN MORE

Custom Masks

Nobody likes masks, but they’re a safe product bet. Case rates are rising and new variants are popping up, so we don’t know what the mask mandates will look like for the upcoming school year. Besides, some parents might want their kids to wear masks regardless of mandates. You can create a variety of different designs with masks, making them appealing to kids of all ages and interests.

LEARN MORE

Custom Beanies

As fall and winter approach and temperatures drop, beanies are an excellent merch choice. They’re functional and stylish, pairing well with almost any outfit. You can add woven labels and hang tags to really brand them up, too.

LEARN MORE

Custom Hats

Like beanies, hats are a great back-to-school item. Sure, you can’t wear them in class, but kids love slapping on a ball cap after school. Add woven labels, patches, and hang tags to your beanies to up their selling value and unique appeal.

LEARN MORE

Custom Stickers

Stickers are trending BIG in 2022. They’re perhaps the most versatile merch choice in existence, and perfect for students. Students can slap them onto their notebooks, binders, laptops, water bottles, or cellphones, and also decorate their lockers with them! You can sell stickers on backer cards, or even do a sticker pack and sell them in bulk!

LEARN MORE

Custom Socks

Socks are another great back-to-school choice. Everyone wears socks to school! Whether students must adhere to a dress code or not, socks can often be worn regardless. For private schools or other schools with dress codes, custom socks are often one of the only ways a student can show off a bit of unique style. Add header cards to make your socks retail-ready!