What RTC does

RTC is a family-owned retail activation company founded in 1950 in Chicago (now headquartered in Rolling Meadows, Illinois) that designs, manufactures, and globally deploys retail merchandising solutions for major consumer brands and multi-national retailers. The firm operates through two integrated product lines: "Ready," which sells standardized, store-ready merchandising systems including the ProfitPusher shelf management family (organizing over 300 million product facings), EcoTrac beverage merchandising systems, ProfitGuard theft deterrence windows, and Clearview dividers; and "Create," which delivers custom retail fixtures and environments through a full-service Plan, Develop, Build, Manage, and Rollout workflow. RTC's underlying capabilities combine proprietary mechanical product design, in-house industrial design and engineering talent (50+ designers and engineers), and 1.5 million square feet of manufacturing across four continents including a 350,000 sq ft facility in Dongguan, China opened in 2016, supported by 60,000+ pallet locations and regional offices in 13 countries.

The company makes money through three streams: sale of standardized Ready products, custom Create design-to-production professional services, and managed global rollout services including warehousing, pick-and-pack, shipping, site surveys, and installation. RTC serves large enterprise customers on multi-year, often multi-decade relationships — disclosed clients include Nike, Sephora, Kiehl's, Adidas, Charlotte Tilbury, UGG, Jo Malone, The Body Shop, Wilson, and Max Factor. Go-to-market is direct enterprise field sales organized by region (North America, Latin America, Europe, Asia) with regional managers and account executives; pricing is quote-based and not publicly disclosed. The business remains under Nathan family ownership through its third generation, with Richard Nathan as Chairman, Larry O'Neill as CEO, and Ken Bloom as CFO — the firm is privately held with no venture capital, private equity, or public-market backing.

Name

RTC

Legal name

RTC

Website

https://rtc.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1950

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

501–1,000 employees

Short description

RTC is a family-owned retail merchandising company founded in 1950 that designs, manufactures, and globally deploys shelf management, beverage, and theft-deterrence systems plus custom retail fixtures for major brands like Nike, Sephora, and Adidas across 13 countries.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Retail Merchandising Solutions and Store Fixtures

NAICS

Industrial Design Services (541420)

SIC

Wholesale-Furniture & Home Furnishings (5020)

akta.pro primary industry

Display & Retail-Ready Packaging (PDQ, Shelf-Ready, End-Caps) (TLAIAGAF)

Keywords

• Retail merchandising solutions
• Store fixture manufacturing
• Shelf management systems
• Retail display design
• Global store rollout

Headquarters

HQ city

Rolling Meadows

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices25 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Supply Chain, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. Ready Products: Sale of standardized retail merchandising products including shelf management systems, beverage merchandising solutions, and theft deterrence products. These are pre-designed store-ready solutions that improve retail operations and drive productivity.
2. Create Custom Solutions: Custom retail fixtures and environments design, development, and production services. Includes end-to-end capabilities from research and strategy through design, engineering, prototyping, production, program management, and global rollout.
3. Global Rollout Services: Worldwide installation and logistics services including warehousing, pick and pack, shipping, site surveys, and installation. Manages over 60,000 pallet locations on four continents.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

RTC designs, engineers, manufactures, and globally deploys retail merchandising solutions and custom retail fixtures for brands and retailers. The "Ready" product line includes standardized store-ready shelf management (ProfitPusher), beverage merchandising (EcoTrac), and theft deterrence (ProfitGuard) systems. The "Create" service line delivers fully custom retail environments end-to-end—from research, strategy, and design through prototyping, production, program management, and worldwide rollout—serving global consumer brands and multi-national retailers.

Product overview

RTC offers two integrated product lines: 'Ready' provides store-ready solutions including shelf management systems (ProfitPusher 2, ProfitPusher 3, Clearview, Toothbrush Cube), beverage merchandising systems (EcoTrac, EcoTrac Fast Lane), and theft deterrence products (ProfitGuard). 'Create' delivers custom retail fixtures and environments through a full-service process: Plan, Develop, Build, Manage, and Rollout, providing end-to-end capabilities from research and design through global installation.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Ready: Store ready solutions including shelf management, beverage merchandising, and theft deterrence products.
• Create
• ProfitPusher
• EcoTrac
• ProfitGuard
• Clearview

Products and services

• Ready Store-ready retail merchandising product line including standardized shelf management systems (ProfitPusher 2, ProfitPusher 3, Clearview, Toothbrush Cube), beverage merchandising systems (EcoTrac, EcoTrac Fast Lane), and theft deterrence systems (ProfitGuard), sold to brands and retailers to improve in-store operations and product presentation.
• Create End-to-end custom retail fixture and environment services for global brands and retailers, spanning research, strategy, design, engineering, prototyping, production, program management, and worldwide rollout.
• ProfitPusher 2 Spring-feed front-facing shelf management system that automatically moves product to the front of retail shelves, reducing labor for shelf conditioning and typically paying for itself in less than a year through labor savings and increased sales.
• ProfitPusher 3 Universal spring-feed shelf management system available in eight versions (Standard, Center Store, Plus, Flip Down, Tall, Pillow, Adjustable Tray, Divide & Slide) that reduces daily shelf-conditioning, planogram-insert, and reset labor hours by 50% or more.
• EcoTrac Spring or gravity-feed beverage merchandising system with durable transparent front retainers and reprocessed eco-friendly trays carrying a 6-year warranty, used in tens of thousands of cold vaults to maintain continuous front-facing of beverages.
• EcoTrac Fast Lane Single-serve beverage management system that adds 6–7 cooler lanes of capacity for 20 oz bottles while keeping products continuously front-faced.
• Clearview Transparent divider shelf management system that organizes products quickly and improves presentation on any gondola shelf, available in three heights.
• Toothbrush Cube Stackable, two-spring pusher shelf management system designed specifically for toothbrush products that auto-fronts products and prevents packages from falling behind the device.
• ProfitGuard Non-Locking Audio Alert Window Theft-deterrence retail window system that emits escalating audio tones when held open too long, deterring theft while allowing legitimate customer purchases.
• ProfitGuard Locked Window Maximum-security theft-deterrence window system that converts existing retail shelves into protective safes requiring key access for product retrieval.
• ProfitGuard Multi-Flip Window Anti-sweep theft-deterrence window system that limits product access to one or two fronts at a time while maintaining full product visibility for shoppers.

Quantifiable outcome

• ProfitPusher 3 reduces labor hours for daily conditioning, planogram inserts, and resets by 50% or more
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers11 records

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature5 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• Logistics and Shipping PartnerssupportingOthersRTC maintains strong relationships with dozens of logistics providers to support global shipping and installation services. These partnerships enable customized distribution solutions based on customer requirements across all markets where they operate.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Outform: Outform is a global retail experience and merchandising company providing custom in-store displays, fixtures, and digital retail solutions to brands like Adidas. Highly comparable to RTC's "Create" custom environments business with similar enterprise retail customers and international footprint.
• DCI Marketing: DCI Marketing designs, engineers, and manufactures in-store merchandising and point-of-purchase displays for major CPG brands. Directly comparable to RTC's custom fixtures and global rollout capabilities serving similar enterprise retail customers.
• Frank Mayer and Associates: Frank Mayer and Associates is a custom in-store merchandising and display manufacturer serving brands across retail verticals. Comparable to RTC's custom display and fixture business, with similar B2B enterprise sales model.
• Madix Inc. Madix designs and manufactures retail store fixtures, shelving, and custom merchandising displays for grocery, convenience, and specialty retail. Comparable to RTC across both standardized and custom retail fixture categories with U.S.-based manufacturing.
• Hussmann (Panasonic): Hussmann, a Panasonic company, is a leading manufacturer of refrigerated display cases and merchandising solutions for grocery, c-store, and food retail — directly comparable to RTC's EcoTrac beverage merchandising and cold-vault focus. Both serve global CPG and retail chains with engineered in-store fixtures and global rollout services.
• Lozier Corporation: Lozier is a major U.S. manufacturer of store fixtures, shelving, and gondola systems sold wholesale to retailers and brands. Highly comparable to RTC's wholesale fixtures business and similar customer base of national retail chains, with strong U.S. manufacturing scale.
• Trion Industries: Trion manufactures shelf management systems, pusher systems, dividers, and smallwares for retail — overlapping directly with RTC's ProfitPusher and Clearview product lines. Both sell into CPG and grocery retail channels globally.
• Crown Display: Crown Display manufactures custom retail displays, point-of-purchase fixtures, and merchandising solutions for global brands. Closely comparable to RTC's custom retail environments and shelf-ready display offerings.

Emerging players

• Display Solutions (DSI): DSI specializes in custom retail displays, fixtures, and merchandising environments for brands and retailers. Comparable to RTC's custom display business but with smaller scale and narrower geographic footprint.

Broad incumbents

• Steelcase: Steelcase is a large, publicly-traded manufacturer of furniture and workspace solutions. While focused on office rather than retail fixtures, its global manufacturing scale, custom design services, and enterprise B2B sales motion make it a broader comparable for RTC's industrial design and large-scale custom environment capabilities.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/rtc
• Facebookfacebook.com/RTCretail

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles9 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about RTC