Catalog Veteran Buys “Significant Position” in MindWare

(Catalog Age) Catalog veteran Martin Smith has purchased a “significant position” in MindWare, a New Brighton, MN-based cataloger of educational toys. New York-based investment bank West Cos. advised both parties in the deal.

Smith, a former vice president of marketing for Newport News, will assume the role of CEO. MindWare founder Jeanne M. Voigt will remain president.

Smith intends to double the size of the $15 million-$20 million cataloger within the next five years. “What appealed to me was that the catalog had a track record of several years of strong growth in the top line and good profitability in the bottom line,” he said. “The customer file is growing quite strongly because the company has prospected quite aggressively.”

MindWare has approximately 150,000 12-month buyers. Voigt says of her yearlong search for outside investment, “It