HISTORY OF THE BAŤA BRAND

HISTORY AND PRESENT DAY OF THE BAŤA BRAND

In 1894, three siblings used their moderate inheritance to establish a shoemaking plant in Zlín. Ten years later, the Baťa company was manufacturing 2,200 pairs of shoes each day. Despite the economic downturn during the World War I, sales increased to two million pairs a year in 1917. Increasingly more people continued to arrive in Zlín seeking work, and Baťa built flats, schools, and hospitals for them and their families; this concept was then later successfully applied in other parts of the world as well.
During difficult times, the company provided its workforce with cheap rent and food in the spirit of its founder’s (Tomáš Baťa, 1876-1932, pictured here) belief that the company should serve the public. Baťa was ahead of his time, which also became evident when he established autonomous workshops and departments where employees were encouraged to share their ideas to influence their own results. New companies were established in France, Austria, Romania, Sweden, Switzerland, Egypt, Belgium, Finland, Luxembourg, Hungary, Italy, Indonesia, Singapore, and India. Plants and surrounding villages were often built based on the Zlín model.
After World War II, the communist governments nationalised Baťa’s companies in the Eastern Europe; however, the company survived outside of the Eastern Bloc. Today, Baťa sells on average 270 million pairs of shoes a year within the network of its companies in more than 70 countries worldwide.
From modest beginnings 120 years ago, Baťa grew to become a trusted global company that offers fashionable and affordable shoes for the whole family. It has also maintained its growth during the 21st century, and it continues striving to exceed the expectations of its customers.

Did you know that…?

The Baťa store at Wenceslas Square in Prague was built during the years 1927–1929. The new chapter of the Glass Palace, as the building is often called, begun in 1990 when its large-scale renovation commenced. On 13 March, 1992, the building had its grand reopening. The latest innovation accommodating the store customers’ needs rests in the remodelling of its ground floor into the European concept called the Shoemaker – a store with a serene, clean, and simplistic ambiance.