Bill Russo, experienced in telemarketing and sales of industrial tools, entered the tile industry in the early 1990s as a partner at Midwest Trade Tools. When the partnership ended, Russo formed RTC Products in 2000. This company continues to be one of the leading tool and allied products businesses in our industry.
Steve Sprung, who originally worked for Midwest Trade Tool and rejoined the company in 2012 after leaving the business for several years, is the COO of RTC Products. Russo continues as President.
How challenging was it to build a tile products company selling one product, and how did your business evolve from that?
Russo: The high-quality grout sponge was where it began. That one item kept us afloat until we started adding more items. I met the leaders of the Raimondi Company around 1999 at the ITSE Tile Show in Miami. We created a partnership—I formed RTC Products and marketed it as DBA Raimondi Tools USA. That partnership ended about 15 years ago and we just kept the RTC Products name.
Steve, how has your role evolved now that you are COO of this growing company?
Sprung: I had a background in tile sales and liked working with tile contractors. I left the company for a few years and rejoined them when the Raimondi partnership was ending. I have a strong interest in operations, and it has been a great ride helping Bill build a successful team here at RTC Products.
How challenging was it to develop a whole new offering of products when you parted ways with Raimondi USA?
Russo: We had a 12-year relationship with Raimondi and had success developing a program for independent distributors during that time. Economic challenges in 2008–2009, along with philosophical differences on how I envisioned running the business, led to that separation.
Along with your 25-year celebration, you are rebranding the company. Tell us about that.
Sprung: The marketing group we hired interviewed many of our distributor customers. It discovered that many of our customers thought Russo Trading Company and RTC Products were different companies. We had been using the logo and marketing on our website in a way that added to that confusion.
We are developing a consistent message now focusing on RTC Products as the brand name. The idea is to rebrand onto one platform so that there’s one known name, and start operating as RTC Products. We want to give that name visibility so that there is no question of who we are.
How are you developing products and systems that fit your strategy of offering quality products to the trade?
Russo: We don’t have a main method for sourcing. A lot of it has to do with being in this business for as long as I have, just knowing other people. We like to provide something unique to the industry. While we have a lot of what I call me-too items—a trowel is a me-too item; you need those to fill your line—we’ve been able to find some unique things as well. For instance, we have this electric sponge machine that rinses out the sponge and wrings it out. This was well received at Tile Solutions Plus. We introduced this product years ago, but it was discontinued.
I found a local source for it again, and now it seems like it’s going to be a very popular new introduction for us.
I think RTC Products has its finger on the pulse of the business and the industry’s tools. Another example is when we developed an excellent line of porcelain-tile drill bits and high-quality diamond blades to accompany them. We hit the porcelain products and created the solutions for that hard porcelain at the right time. That’s what launched us, in a sense. And we always try to keep up with technology trends.
What is a current trend you are looking at and the tools or system solutions to support it?
Russo: A lot of tile is coming in larger formats and different thicknesses. We’re aligning ourselves with related partners to offer a stronger portfolio as well. Lately, we’ve been finding more good partners. We’re taking those products and advertising under their name, but we’re the distributor for that product, for example.
You have the distributor supply chain and you have salespeople who are engaged with contractors all around the country. Do you welcome entrepreneurs who have a great idea but don’t know how to take it to market?
Sprung: Yes, this is something we are open to exploring. Even if they know how to get it manufactured, they need an avenue to get it to market, and they want to use us as that avenue. Probably a handful of times a month somebody will reach out with a product idea. Some of them are great, and some of them aren’t.
Do you manufacture products in your program or are you mainly agents for distribution who source these products from around the world?
Russo: We don’t manufacture, but we have several patents and we work with our partners to produce the tools and systems.
Recently with the tariffs, we’ve moved a lot of our products to the States. Our Spin Doctor Tile Leveling System is all made in the United States. We’re looking at a lot of changes in that to avoid the tariffs.
What other products that you sell have been well received by distributors?
Russo: Spin Doctor Tile Leveling products are still very popular. We were really the first to come up with the most successful spin system where the cap spins on a threaded post. It’s either that or the wedge. It seems like a lot of our distributors have both.
What opportunities in training, either from the NTCA or other sources, do you take advantage of, and how is this important to your strategy?
Sprung: After COVID, we saw an increasing opportunity to participate in events. Ever since COVID, we get daily emails inviting us to participate in training events. NTCA is doing way more events than ever, and our salespeople support those programs as well.
Our investment in salespeople is paying off, because the independent distributor needs to build that relationship with a professional representative they can trust. It opensthe door for us to get our products displayed and seen in many different markets.
How does RTC Products help the distributor with merchandising and sales support?
Sprung: We have no minimum stock expectation. We do offer a free prepaid program, which guides clients into X amount of product to start. We provide display shelves based on what their orders look like.
Typically, we install these units that handle all of our small-scale products. This includes our leveling system, trowels, blades, sponges, etc., not tile cutters and saws. We get the PO, we put the displays in, we ship everything out. Our outside representative goes into the store and sets up the displays with the customer. It’s really working out well.
What is new on the horizon for RTC Products?
Russo: We offer bridge saws and rail saws and many products that support gauged porcelain tile panel products. We also have one of the best pedestal systems out there; one of the simplest systems. Many of our competitors offer multiple stocking levels of pedestals for different heights. Our system offers all the heights in one unit.
Sprung: It took us a few years to create a partnership with the pedestal system manufacturer we preferred. By that time a lot of systems had hit the market, but most of the companies weren’t stocking the system yet. It can be challenging to inventory some of these systems when they might have lines that have 25, 30, 35 different height pedestals, depending on what you need.
The product that we were looking at solved all of that because it was modular. You only needed that one size. How do I as a dealer stock, you know, 60 different SKUs? How much warehouse space do I have? So, I said, let’s let this ride for a year, let people start feeling some of those pinch points.
By the time we worked out the relationship with this manufacturer, we brought it in under their brand name and started distributing it across the U.S.
Well, congratulations on 25 years of success, and clearly you have developed a team focused on helping you achieve your goals.
Russo: Thank you so much. We have supported NTCA and the industry shows like Coverings and Tile Solutions Plus, and your training events whenever we can. We are
poised to support a growing distributor customer base and look forward to servicing them with exceptional support and service.
Bart Bettiga is the Executive Director of the National Tile Contractors Association. Bettiga is a member of the Board of Governors of Coverings, one the largest tradeshows in North America. He has over 30 years of experience in the tile and stone industry and has served as the NTCA Executive Director since 2002. He is a well known speaker and author on ceramic tile and natural stone distribution and installation. He oversees the financial operations of the NTCA, TileLetter and the Ceramic Tile Education Foundation.
