RTC which had a sales volume of $102 Million in ’97, moved to a P.O.P. volume of $119 Million and also moved from number 2 ranking in the top 50 companies, to the number one ranking. RTC won a series of awards for point of purchase displays which it produced including Outstanding Merit for the Fragrance Organ fixture for Sephora in the NASFM Award Competition. They also won POPAI Awards for Nike, Kmart, Procter & Gamble and Pringles.
RTC is headed by Walter Nathan founder of the company and Richard Nathan, CEO.
RTC defines itself as the first truly integrated in-store agency which provides clients with a single point of contact from strategy and design to manufacturing and deployment. RTC has become an international company with RTC owned facilities in 14 countries across North and South America, Europe, Asia and Africa. The company’s P.O.P. programs range from total store merchandising planning to Concept Shops, Category Merchandising, and Targeted Brand Programs. In addition, the company has a line of store ready merchandising systems including shelf management, product merchandising and sign systems, plus additional expertise in interactive electronics.
The company was founded as Round Tubes and Cores Company in 1950 by Walter Nathan and a partner. The company’s first products were paper tubes used for various industry applications. In 1957, RTC created a transparent cane-shaped tubular package to be filled with candy. The candy cane is now a holiday tradition with over 300 million sold. The success of the product led RTC to pursue a broad range of specialty products; among them: tubes and tops, inventive gift packaging ideas for candy, liquor, gourmet gifts and packages for the cosmetic industries.
By the 1960’s RTC developed other uses for paper tubes and started manufacturing point of purchase displays. They added molded connectors to the tubes which they were producing to build display racks, which developed into a shelf system know as Mod-U-Shelf. The company showed buyers how stock products instead of custom design could be a more economical way to merchandise goods.
In 1970, because of its expansion in the point of purchase industry, Round Tubes and Cores Company changed its name to RTC Industries Inc. In 1972, RTC started to customize display units by changing the logo and the decoration of the plastic and selling them to competitive marketers. RTC began its international business in 1976 through third party agents.
In 1994, RTC moved its corporate headquarters to Rolling Meadows. This facility has 142,000 square feet with the ability to expand in the future. RTC Industries has over 400 employees worldwide in four U.S. locations plus its international offices. The company expresses its philosophy as working in partnering relationships with major brands and retailers, managing their in-store programs and accepting accountability for their success in-store.
We have selected RTC as P.O.P. Company of the Year because of its transition from a producer of paper tubes to its growth as a global P.O.P. company involved in almost every facet of the P.O.P. industry.
