Custom Cardboard POP Displays: How Holy City Brewing's Kegmas Tree Went From Mockup to Store Floor
Updated October 2026 by Brad Lugar
Quick answer: A custom cardboard POP display is a printed, die cut corrugated display that puts your beer in the shopper's path for a single promotion, usually four to eight weeks. This fall Steel City Tap Co. built the Kegmas Tree for Holy City Brewing in North Charleston, South Carolina: a 72 inch tree made of stacked Holy City kegs, wrapped in garland, standing on its own easelback. It started as a cardboard case stack, went through three renderings, and landed as a single double sided panel. About seven weeks from first sketch to stores, one week from final sample approval to delivery.
Who is Holy City Brewing, and what is the Kegmas Tree?
Holy City Brewing started in 2011 with four friends in a pedicab garage in Charleston and now brews on Noisette Creek in North Charleston's Park Circle neighborhood. Griffin, their Creative Director, runs the look of everything that leaves the brewery, from cans to the displays that sell them.
The Kegmas Tree was his idea: a Christmas tree built from rows of Holy City kegs, each one wrapped in garland and ornaments, to stand in retail accounts through the holidays. A six pack on a shelf is wallpaper. A six foot tree made of kegs at the end of the beer aisle in December is the thing shoppers stop and photograph.
Why do breweries still use cardboard POP displays?
Cardboard is the cheapest square foot of full color print you can put in a retail store, and it is built for how beer actually gets sold: in short, seasonal pushes. A holiday release, a summer seasonal, a new can launch. The display needs to look sharp for four to eight weeks and then go in the store's cardboard bale. Paying for metal or wood to hold a 30 day promotion is money you never see again.
Three things make corrugated the default for brewery point of purchase displays:
- It ships flat. A stack of knocked down case stackers rides on one pallet, and a rep can carry a few into a store under one arm. Freight is where small POP orders go to die, so flat matters more than anything else on this list.
- It prints edge to edge. Four color process covers every panel, and a custom die cut lets the shape itself carry the message: a can, a bottle, a tree made of kegs.
- The minimums are small. Our stock cardboard case tray stacker starts at 12 pieces, so you can test a display in a handful of accounts before you commit a whole distributor footprint.
The honest limit: cardboard hates height, moisture and repeat handling. Once a display stands taller than about four feet on its own, or has to survive a second season, at least part of it needs a different material. The Kegmas Tree shows exactly where that line sits. For the bigger picture on what POP does for sell through, read How POP Displays Help Drive Sales and Brand Awareness.
What did Holy City ask for?
Griffin came to us in August about our stock POP: the case tray stacker, the stacker with a custom shape topper, and the 72 inch can shaped pole topper. A few weeks later he sent a rough mockup of something we did not have on the shelf, a custom cut cardboard case stack whose sides were shaped like a Christmas tree built from Holy City kegs. His art files came over on September 25, sized 3.5 feet wide by 6 feet tall on the tree with a 4 foot backing.
What did the first rendering look like?
Our first rendering put two 72 inch keg tree panels on either side of a printed case wall 48 inches wide and 46 inches tall. Cases of Holy City's holiday pale ale stack inside, the tree frames them, and the brand reads from both directions in the aisle. It looked great on screen. Then production weighed in.
What changed between the rendering and production?
Two problems surfaced before a single sheet was cut. First, a 48 inch wall plus glue tabs pushed the job onto oversized 5x10 stock, so we narrowed the wall to 40 inches and got a cleaner sheet and a better fastener. Second, cardboard flutes on a six foot side panel bend. A bent panel in a retail store is a dead display, and replacing it means another freight bill.
So the tree sides moved to 4mm white corrugated plastic printed on both sides, while the case wall stayed B-flute cardboard, scored and folded so the graphic shows front and back. That is the conversation you want before production, not after 50 units hit a pallet.
Why did the final display end up as one panel?
Griffin made the smartest call of the project. Only a few stores had committed to the installation, so a three piece case stack system was more display than he needed. He switched to a single double sided panel, 72 inches tall and 40 inches wide, printed on the same 4mm corrugated plastic as the concept 2 sides, because a freestanding six foot panel is exactly where cardboard bends. The easelback is cut from the same sheet, with a fold flat slit so the tree ships compact.
He placed a 25 unit first run. That keeps his cost per store sane and leaves room to scale next season once he knows which stores sold through. The lesson for any brewery: the right display is the one sized to the stores you actually have, not the one that looks best in the rendering.
"The displays came in and look great." Griffin, Creative Director, Holy City Brewing
Cardboard or corrugated plastic: which should your display use?
Pick by height and lifespan. Cardboard carries the graphics and the product. Corrugated plastic (coroplast) carries anything tall, freestanding or reused.
| Cardboard (corrugated paperboard) | Corrugated plastic (coroplast) | |
|---|---|---|
| Best for | Case stackers, risers, headers, toppers, counter displays | Tall standees, side supports, cold box placements |
| Height on its own | Up to about 4 feet | 6 feet and up with an easelback |
| Lifespan | One promotion, 4 to 8 weeks | Multiple seasons |
| Moisture | Softens near coolers and wet floors | Waterproof |
| 4 color process, die cut to any shape | 4 color, one or both sides, die cut | |
| Cost per unit | Lowest | Higher |
| After the promotion | Store's cardboard recycling | Stored for next year |
Our rule of thumb: if the display holds product and lives under four feet, build it in cardboard and spend the savings on more stores. If it stands six feet on its own or comes back next December, put the structure in corrugated plastic and keep cardboard for the parts that get thrown away.
What cardboard POP displays can you order, and how fast?
Not every brewery needs a custom tree. These are the corrugated formats we run every week, printed in full color and shipped flat from Birmingham, Alabama.
| Display | Size | Minimum | Starting price | Lead time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Custom Case Tray Stacker | 42.25" x 16.375" x 11" | 12 | $30 each | 2 to 3 weeks |
| Case Tray Riser | 18" x 16.25" x 11" | 12 | $23 each | 2 to 3 weeks |
| Replacement Stacker Header | Fits our stacker | 12 | $12 each | 2 to 3 weeks |
| Stacker with Custom Shape Topper | 42.25" x 16.375" x 11" | 10 | $51.50 each, down to $33.99 at 1,000 | 4 to 6 weeks |
| 72" Can Shaped Pole Topper | 72" tall, pole and feet included | Ask | Quoted per project | 4 to 6 weeks |
| Custom die cut standee or case stack | Built to your art | 12 | Quoted per project | 4 to 6 weeks |
Lead time starts at written art approval and deposit. Freight is quoted separately by destination, and it is the number that decides whether a small run makes sense. Twelve units to one distributor is efficient. Twelve units to twelve stores is not. See every format in our custom point of purchase collection, and for more ideas read Brewery POP Displays That Move Beer.
What does it take to order a custom POP display?
Send your can art, a target quantity and the stores you are shipping to. A phone photo of the can, a label PDF or your current sell sheet is enough for us to build a concept and a dieline. We come back with a rendering and a real number, and freight is part of the conversation from day one. Email brad@steelcitytap.com. Every display is built in Birmingham, Alabama, by people you can call.
Frequently asked questions
What is a custom cardboard POP display?
A custom cardboard POP (point of purchase) display is a printed, die cut corrugated display that holds or promotes a product where shoppers buy it. Breweries use them as case stackers, risers, toppers and standees for seasonal and launch promotions that run four to eight weeks.
How much does a custom cardboard POP display cost?
Stock cardboard case tray stackers start at $30 each and risers at $23 each, with a 12 piece minimum. Custom die cut shapes cost more because each needs its own dieline, and the unit price drops as quantity rises. Freight is quoted separately by destination.
What is the minimum order for cardboard POP displays?
Twelve pieces on most corrugated formats and ten on the case stacker with a custom shape topper. Minimums are per design, so breweries can mix brands to reach a price break.
How long does a custom POP display take to make?
Two to three weeks for stock formats and four to six weeks for custom shapes, counted from written art approval and deposit. Holy City Brewing's Kegmas Tree took about seven weeks from first sketch, and one week from final sample approval to delivery.
When should cardboard be swapped for corrugated plastic?
When a display stands taller than about four feet on its own, sits near moisture, or needs to last more than one season. Cardboard flutes bend at that height, so tall standees and side supports are built from 4mm corrugated plastic while cardboard stays on the parts that hold product.
Do I need print ready files to start a POP display?
No. A phone photo of the can, a label PDF or a sell sheet is enough to start a concept. Final production art should be vector or 300 DPI at final size, in CMYK.
When should breweries order holiday POP displays?
By late October or early November. Holiday resets happen in November, so stock stackers need approved art by mid November, and custom die cut shapes need it earlier.