RMT by Aristo-Craft

G-gauge model railroad manufacturer Aristo-Craft Trains and O-gauge maker Ready Made Trains (RMT) have entered into a joint marketing agreement that gives the latter access to the former’s worldwide distribution channels.

Aristo-Craft president Lewis M. Polk and RMT president Walter M. Matuch signed the agreement March 9. The RMT trademark has also been licensed to Aristo-Craft and will be used to identify future products as “RMT by Aristo-Craft.”

According to Matuch, product availability, shipping and distribution will be streamlined to benefit the toy train hobbyist, retail stores and the distributor network in both the U.S. and Europe with the same terms for trade customers already purchasing Aristo-Craft products. He adds a new 2010 catalog will be produced “in the coming weeks.”

The deal also helps products for both companies to market faster. “Both Aristo-Craft and RMT products are made at the same factory complex in China, so efficiency of shipping will mean that goods can ship in a timely manner when manufactured, rather than when a container-load quantity has been reached for either company,” Polk said.

Polk and Matuch are well acquainted. Prior to starting RMT in 2003, Matuch was product manager at Aristo-Craft and later served as vice-president operations/licensing at Taylor Made Trucks.

As reported by Model Retailer on March 10, 2010