Channel Partners buys Retail Merchandising Services to expand retail execution

By AI, Created 4:37 PM UTC, May 18, 2026, /AGP/ – Channel Partners Solutions said May 11, 2026, that it acquired Retail Merchandising Services, combining RMS’s 40 years of field merchandising experience with Channel Partners’ real-time retail intelligence platform. The deal is designed to give brands faster visibility into store execution across all 50 states and a broader set of retail services.

Why it matters: - The acquisition combines in-store merchandising execution with live field intelligence in one operating model. - Brands and retailers gain a broader retail execution platform built to improve accountability at the shelf. - The combined company says the move raises the standard for execution across multiple categories and channels.

What happened: - Channel Partners Solutions announced the acquisition of Retail Merchandising Services on May 11, 2026. - Retail Merchandising Services is headquartered in Brooklyn Park, Minnesota. - The deal pairs RMS’s four decades of field execution with Channel Partners’ technology-driven retail intelligence platform. - RMS was founded in 1985.

The details: - RMS operates a national field team in all 50 states, including Alaska and Hawaii. - RMS holds Target Preferred Partner status, which provides backroom certification and direct access to Target’s MyDevice for inventory audits, pricing verification, and stocking. - RMS has a leadership team with more than 150 years of combined executive retail experience across store operations, merchandising, and supply chain. - Channel Partners’ OpenSky™ platform provides real-time visit verification, AI-powered photo validation, and client dashboards. - RMS merchandisers will gain access to a broader technology stack, a national network spanning seven additional solution areas, and the operational scale of programs across thousands of retail locations. - Existing RMS clients will continue to work with the teams they know, now backed by Channel Partners’ retail execution capabilities. - The combined company will deliver merchandising and resets, break fix and continuity, assisted sales and training, audits and compliance, experiential marketing, warehousing and fulfillment, and construction. - The organization serves consumer electronics, grocery, health and beauty, food and beverage, and other categories. - The combined operation uses a W-2 employee model.

Between the lines: - The acquisition is less about adding store coverage and more about improving execution quality and measurement. - Channel Partners is folding RMS into a system built around real-time data, which could make field work more visible to clients. - RMS is keeping its current client relationships while gaining access to more technology and adjacent services. - The companies are positioning the deal as an accountability play, not just a scale play.

What’s next: - Channel Partners said OpenSky™ capabilities will be introduced more fully later in 2026 and into 2027. - RMS field programs will be powered by OpenSky™ for real-time reporting, visit verification, and client visibility. - The combined business will continue operating across retail execution categories and channels.

The bottom line: - Channel Partners now has a larger retail execution platform that links field merchandising with real-time intelligence, aiming to give brands better proof of performance at store level.