Market with jazzy bags is ready for school kids

Kozhikode: As the new academic year is around the corner, bag makers are wooing kids with filmy themes, attractive designs and colour combinations.

The price starts at Rs 200, scaling up to Rs 4,000 depending on brands and features. Each year they employ innovative marketing techniques and introducing new models in tune with their taste.

The little kids get attracted to colourful bags with cartoon characters.

The present school bag market is dominated by Hollywood superheroes mostly the Avengers on their theme cover.

Even adults are fascinated by characters like Iron Man, Captain America, Hulk and Thor.

The HBO series Game of Thrones also hits the market with its pictures on the bag.

"Majority of the bags sold in the state's market are coming from Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu," said P.P. Firoz, owner of Yellow Fancy and Bags.

"Brands like Scoobee Day, Wildcraft and Emmi Bags are manufactured in the state itself." According to him, Scoobee Day bags are the first choice for the majority of kids. College or high school students use backpacks and side bags. Mostly girls prefer Charley bags and boys laptop backpacks.

Going by the trends, customers prefer popular brands and the quality of products. "Earlier they used to buy materials which were cheaper and not costly," said Mr Firoz.

American Tourister, Wildcraft, Safari, Puma and  Fastrack are the most popular brands.

Skybags tops the brands in terms of advertisements. Most of the customers prefer bags with raincoats. Brands like Safari and Emmi have extensive collections, all priced above Rs 1000.

There are expandable ones which can be used as travel bags and have trolley support. To attract customers, some companies give attractive umbrellas free along with bags.