RETAIL TECHNOLOGIES, INC.
Providing Retailers with Retail Shelf-Edge Solutions
SINCE 1987
Providing retailers a professional method of creating timely POP signage and barcode shelf labels was the idea behind the founding of Retail Technologies, Inc. in May of 1987. Now, thousands of customers later, that is still our sole mission. We have customers in all 50 states and more than a dozen foreign countries.
The Origin Story
Fourteen years prior to founding RTI, the President of Retail Technologies, Inc., Gregory Hall, worked for some of leading retail solutions providers, before deciding to become a dealer himself. He worked along the Gulf Coast from New Orleans, LA, to Mobile, AL, presenting and selling point-of-sale and front-end scanning systems, primarily to the grocery industry, at a time when technology was in its infancy.
During this time, Greg gained great insight into the unique challenges that retailers were facing in their day to day operations. He quickly noticed that the old product pricing methods were cutting into his customer’s profit margins. Realizing that they were in desperate need of a solution, Greg set out on a mission to find one. After in-depth research, he came to the conclusion that a solution did not yet exist. The only solution was to create one himself.
Retail Technologies, Inc. Was Born
In May of 1987, Greg Hall founded Retail Technologies, Inc. with one main goal in mind. To provide retailers with a professional method of efficiently creating barcode shelf labels. Greg’s knowledge of retail POS scanning systems allowed him to come up with a program that would automate label printing through integration. Shelf-Minder was the first product released by RTI in 1987. This MS-DOS-based program printed pre-designed labels with a dot-matrix printer. For the first-time retailers finally had a way to automate and control how they priced their items.
CREATING A Better Solution
In September 1989, HP introduced the first “personal” version of the HP LaserJet printer series, the LaserJet IIP. At half the size and price of its predecessor, Greg saw this as an opportunity to provide his customers with an even better solution. DESIGN-R-LABELS for DOS was released in 1989. Among the many industry firsts, this application had WYSISYG (what-you-see-is-what-you-get) design program, that could now support dot-matrix as well as laser printers. This new technology enabled retailers to create their own label layouts, and also included the added function of printing shelf-edge signage.
The Millennium Game-Changer for Retailers
February of 1999 saw the successful release of DESIGN-R-LABELS32 for Windows. This was the retail industry’s first sign and label printing program written from the ground up to take advantage of Microsoft’s 32-bit Windows operating system. With advanced automation capabilities and tons of new design features, DRL-32 was undoubtedly a retail industry game-changer going into the new millennium.
The DESIGN-R-LABELS Family
As the world became more connected, RTI decided to take full advantage of the opportunities presented by the growth of the internet. They completely rewrote the program to release DESIGN-R-LABELS 3.0. This extensive rewrite gave birth to a brand-new software family intended to provide any size retailer with a complete solution scalable to their specific needs. The new DESIGN-R-LABELS family of software included; DESIGN-R-LABELS Home Office | DESIGN-R-LABELS Store Edition | DESIGN-R-LABELS for Independents | design-R-labels WEB | PrintLab | PrintLab Suite | FlashPrint | Large Format Printing | N-Aisle Printing
Focusing On Efficiency
As labor costs continued to rise, and retailers were seeking new ways to drive down operational costs, RTI decided to shift their focus to efficiency. Their N-Aisle Printing application had already been a great success for helping retailers improve efficiency. It allowed them to print a replacement tag, identical to the original, in the aisle directly in front of the item where it would be applied. They introduced the RTI PowerCart in 2016 as part of their Complete N-Aisle Printing solution. This new tool gave retailers the ability to print everything from a single label to full-size signage in the aisle, improving efficiency even further.
Growing & Expanding
Over the years, the RTI team has expanded the solutions and services offered to the retail Industry. In December of 2014, Greg decided to hire a team of experts to tackle new challenges many retailers were facing when it came to efficiently and economically printing in-store media. (Read More) He moved the company a new facility large enough to house the equipment needed to manufacture sign and label stock created especially for retailers. Today RTI produces custom and stock signage, labels, and shelf talkers on-site at their current location in Mobile, AL. They have several different types of raw materials used for the production of their sign and label media, including eco-friendly alternatives. RTI’s complete solution includes everything from software, printers, and consumables to custom-produced sign and label stock. They also host an e-commerce site, www.rtiSigns.com, where retailers can purchase printer supplies, sign and label display accessories, and choose from hundreds of ready to ship sign and label styles.
About The RTI Family
After graduating from Harding University in 2002 with an MBA, Glen Hall, Greg’s son, rejoined him as the Vice President and Sales Manager of RTI. Glen has been an integral part of the product development and economic growth of Retail Technologies, Inc. ever since.
RTI’s customer acclaimed technical support team is led by IT Manager, Josh McNew, who formerly served as a Signals Intelligence Analysts in the United States Marine Corps. With the consumables sales team being led by Media Sales Manager, Trey Fairchild, a U.S. Navy veteran who served post 9/11 as an Aviation Maintenance Administrationman with a BA in Marketing Management.
DESIGN-R-LABELS 4| COMING SOON
Multi-Lingual & Mobile Compatible
YOU ASKED FOR IT, AND WE LISTENED
We are proud to announce that DESIGN-R-LABELS version 4, will be released later this year. This new version of industry-leading sign and label printing software has been completely rewritten from the ground-up. The program features a new, more powerful user interface, with added support for any computer or device using a Web-browser. The addition of new multi-lingual capabilities will allow more retailers worldwide to automate their in-store sign and label printing with the industries most powerful program. Moving into the future, RTI is constantly researching new technologies to determine how they might impact sign and label printing for the retail industry. Our goal is to take advantage of the most promising opportunities and pay it forward to our customers.
