A young Brooklyn design firm named Modko is quite literally the cat’s meow in the niche business of high-design cat products.
Brett Teper, 42, and his design partner Rich Williams, 44, spent $350K to get started — their first product in 2009 was a cat litter box called Modkat that has been flying off the shelves at $180 a pop, compared to the average cat litter box that sells for around $30. They recently launched a second model for $120.
The Sunset Park firm redesigns everyday boring items, making them beautiful and better functioning, Modko earned an international design award for the kitty box and now harecently introduced another innovation: the Shake Dog Potty, a $220 “toilet” for canine pets.
Who has a Modkat? Katy Perry and Taylor Swift — apparently the fancy cat boxes are perfect for tour buses.
The designer Karl Lagerfeld also has one for his cat.
The company has been growing and recently moved from a 600 square-foot office to 4,000 square feet in Sunset Park.
Sales are growing at about 60 percent a year, Teper said.
Last year, revenue topped $1 million, and 2014 revenue is projected to be $3.1 million.
Modko is now in Canada and the EU and is eyeing new markets. It also has distribution partners who sell in Korea, Japan and Hong Kong.
Manhattan is the biggest city for the cat box, but California is also a strong market, Teper said.