About Us

Clear View Bag Co., Inc. has been manufacturing and distributing polyethylene, polypropylene, hi density and related packaging products since 1961. We have two manufacturing locations: Albany NY and Thomasville NC.

Our commitment to our customers is to provide:

The highest quality product
Outstanding service
Competitive prices
Deliveries and staff you can depend on

Exceeding customer expectations has allowed our company to grow over the last four decades. We appreciate all the opportunities we are offered and look forward to handling your needs in the future.

Our Process

Clear View Bag is a manufacturer and converter of plastic bags and roll stock. We specialize in custom packaging and printing.

If printing is your need we are uniquely staffed with an in-house art and graphics team, as well as a plate making department with state of the art equipment help you with the design of your package. Having these services in house allows us to quickly and professionally design your bag without the need for third parties that cause delays and quality issues.

Once a concept for your package is created we place an order for your raw materials. We do not extrude the plastic used to make your bags but rather have dedicated suppliers that provide us with superior quality film in the size and thickness you require. Upon receipt of the rolled polyethylene film we assign a unique lot number to it and transfer to the proper department for conversion. If the material is to be printed, one of our six presses featuring two wide web Central Impression units will do the job. Then its off to the production line where one of our 17 machines will cut and seal your package adding any of the custom options you require. Once the final product has been inspected for quality, it’s shipped off right to your door. Clear View Bag is dedicated to continually upgrading its machinery and technology to make sure the entire process is as streamlined and quality oriented as possible.

Markets Served

Clear View Bag services a wide range of end user markets. The 4 largest markets are listed below.

Medical: The medical industry makes up approximately 25% of our business. "Clean bag" manufacturing procedures are utilized when running items that need to be clean for medical applications. Clean procedures include frequent knife and machine cleansing, constant monitoring of cleanliness of the product, operator hand gloves and hair nets when required, poly lined cases, protection of unconverted rollstock with bag covers, extra attention in shipment to ensure the product arrives in tact.

Food/Agricultural: The food market makes up approximately 20% of our business. From apple and pepper wicketted bags to printed tortilla ziplock bags to frozen perogies and raviolis requiring special blends of eva film, we can handle all types of food packaging that do not require barrier protection. We make both pre-made bags loose in a case and rollstock which runs on form fill and seal machines. All bags and rollstock can come in any configuration needed and can be printed up to 6 colors.

Retail: The retail market makes up approximately 20% of our business. We can print up to 6 colors to provide a unique look to an event, product or business. Some applications include:

Foldover dicut handle bags for craft stores
Printed header bags with hangholes for paint brushes
Tamper evident ziplocks for parts
Patch dicut handle bags for college bookstores
Printed tape co-extruded bags for mailings

Industrial: The industrial market makes up approximately 10% of our business. We stock over 500 sizes of bags. Uses for stock and non stock applications include:

pallet covers to poly line bins
ziplocks to hold parts
stock flat bags to serve as dust covers
tape bags to hold important documents
wicketted bags for fast pack loading of products

A wide variety of film types, constructions and print options are available if a stock size does not fit the need.

Associations/Affiliations

Albany Area Chamber of Commerce
Printing and Imaging Association
Document Management Industries Association (DMIA)
New England Buying Consortium (NEBC)
Connect 2 One
National Association of College Stores (NACS)
College Stores Association of NYS
Thomasville Area Chamber of Commerce
College Stores Association of NC

Historical Timeline

The historical timeline takes a brief walk through our 42-year company history. From a single employee in a barn in 1961 to 105 employees in 2 manufacturing plants in 2003, we are very proud of our history.

1961 - 1963

Donald Strevell started a company called "The Box and Bow" in the back of his barn in 1961. Donald Strevell's first business card stated…...

"When it is so easy to be nice, and so nice to be liked, who can afford not to be both?" These are words Clear View Bag has tried to live and do business by for the last 42 years.

He hand made custom boxes and decorative bows and sold them to local shops and merchants. Cellophane was a natural packaging link to the boxes and bows Don supplied his customers. In purchasing two cellophane bag machines, Don started the manufacturing portion of the business. The box and bow business was phased out over the next few years and manufacturing of bags became the primary focus of the now called Clear View Bag. Donald's son-in-law Bill Romer quickly joined the business and the two of them ran the business. The barn is still in tact today and remains at Bill Romer's current homestead.

1968

Donald and Fulvia Strevel sold the business to their daughter and son-in-law Deb and Bill Romer in 1968. Throughout the sixties, Don and Bill continued to build a local customer base . The two of them did it all: prospecting potential customers, servicing current accounts, invoicing, delivering product and making the product was all in a days work.. Some of the accounts attracted by them in the sixties are still with us today.

1972 - 1978

The new owners, Bill and Deb Romer, moved the business two times in the 1970's. The business moved to Averill Park, NY in 1972 and then to Rennselear NY in 1978 to continue to add more manufacturing and storage space to a growing operation. They began to add employees and more bag making machinery to accommodate an expanding customer base. While cellophane was still manufactured, polyethylene increasingly became the dominant packaging choice. Bill and Don continued to focus their efforts on expansion that was customer driven. New applications from customers provided the opportunity for the business to become involved in new markets.

1984

Clear View Bag moved to its current location in Albany NY. The building is a 66,000 square foot facility which, at the time, seemed like plenty of room for expansion. Printing became an increasingly large part of the operation by the early eighties. Four printing presses were in operation and the new facility offered much more room for expansion for the printshop. Polyethylene was still the dominant packaging choice but blended films and specialty materials became increasingly popular. Clear View Bag continued to expand to meet customer desires for custom packaging.

1990 - 1992

In 1990-1992, Bill's sons, Todd and Trent, joined the family business. While both Todd and Trent worked throughout their high school and college days in the factory, they both decided to join the family business full time upon graduating from college in the early nineties. Over the last 10 years, Todd has focused his efforts on the human resource and operations side of the business while Trent has been involved with the service and sales side of the business. They both take great pride in the challenge of continuing the tradition of friendly service and high quality product focus into the next century.

1997

In 1997, Clear View Bag purchased a 35,000 square foot manufacturing facility in Thomasville, NC. The NC plant gave Clear View Bag a more complete east coast presence, a southern distribution point and increased capabilities. The facility has dual lane auto wicket capabilities that offers superior pricing and service on wicketted bags. Bill's nephew, Joe Romer, joined the business in 1995 as a salesperson and now runs the entire NC operation. The North Carolina facility added printing presses to its capabilities in the late 1990's.

2000 - 2007

The last few years has seen the business become increasingly customized. Custom items such as ziplock bags, tape bags, compartment bags and bags with specialty films has increasingly become the norm. Along those lines, to compliment the ten presses and the thirty bag machines, a new six-color press was purchased to give CVB process printing capabilities. In the tradition that has allowed Clear View to grow the past 40 years, the new press was purchased to respond to customer demands for higher quality graphics and prints.

As we look back and move forward, we are very gracious to you our customers who have provided the opportunities for Clear View Bag to grow and to be successful. We appreciate your support and look forward to servicing your packaging needs!