Leigh Batnick Plessner on Brooklyn-born Catbird’s national expansion: 10 more stores by 2026
Since joining Catbird a year after its 2004 launch, Plessner has worked alongside Rony Vardi, co-owner and founder of Catbird, to grow the Williamsburg-birthed brand beyond its first 225-square-foot retail store on Metropolitan Avenue. In 2006, they opened a second location on Bedford Avenue that quickly became Catbird's flagship. Under Plessner's creative direction, Catbird also evolved into a popular retailer of demi-fine jewelry.