MUSEUM TOUR CATALOG President honored as
2005 Cataloger of the Year
And, MUSEUM TOUR 2004-05 CATALOG Wins Annual Award

Milwaukie , Oregon – July 6, 2005 . Marilynne Eichinger, President of Museum Tour Catalog, just received the “Cataloger of the Year Award” in the Consumer Business category from Catalog Success magazine.

This award, based on the company's overall business performance, was decided based on growth of 12-month house file, innovations in creative, merchandising, marketing, prospecting, customer service, and fulfillment. Judges also took into consideration the length of time the cataloger has managed their own catalog, annual revenue, and operating budget.

Eichinger, previously the director of the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry, founded this educational catalog in 1994. Eichinger joined with 22 museums nationwide with the goal of extending the museum experience into homes across the country. Together they launched the Museum Tour Catalog, a museum-like catalog filled with products one might find in museum gift shops. In addition, museum members receive a portion of the catalog's profits annually; to date, donations total $175,000.

Museum Tour Catalog 2004-2005, also received the 2004–2005 Silver Award in the Syndicated Co-op category in the Twentieth Annual Catalog Awards competition. Multichannel Merchant, formerly Catalog Age magazine, hosted the awards ceremony held in Orlando , FL. Currently, Museum Tour (museumtour.com) enjoys one of the highest response rates in the catalog industry at 4.3% with 70% of its participants returning each year.

As a syndicated co-op catalog, Museum Tour's manufacturers participate in the catalog program for a 75% revenue share. Most products target children from 0-12 years old and categories range from science, art, crafts, history, electronics, music, architecture, and exercise. Toy manufacturers meet with Museum Tour merchandisers at the February Toy Fair to select products for the upcoming issue.

This Silver Award, conferred as a “tribute to catalog excellence,” marks the third year Museum Tour earned top honors. Museum Tour previously received the Gold and Silver awards in the Children's Category. Formerly considered purely a children's educational catalog, Museum Tour has expanded and now offers the same level of educational products for the entire family.

The catalog was one of 85 finalists selected from a field of more than 200 entries in 28 categories. The panel of judges based the awards on a point system. This award recognizes the catalog with the most points overall in each category. The judging criterion encompasses areas such as merchandising, creativity, services, customer services, and catalog effectiveness. “These awards are a great honor," said Eichinger. “I'm very proud to have our company's efforts and commitment to excellence recognized by our peers and Multichannel Merchant's panel of experts."

Museum Tour is a privately held company located at 2517 SE Mailwell Drive , Milwaukie , Oregon , 97222 . For further information, please contact Barbara Lund at 503-794-7100 barbl@museumtour.com . To request a catalog, consumers may call 800-360-9116.