About The Company
Bata Shoes is a large, family owned shoe company. It is currently headquartered in Lausanne, Switzerland, and operates 4 business units worldwide – Bata Europe, Bata Asia Pacific-Africa, Bata Latin America and Bata North America. It has retail presence in over 50 countries, production facilities in 26 countries. In its history the company has sold 14 billion pairs of shoes.
History
The company was founded in 1894 in Zlín (then Austro-Hungarian Empire, today the Czech Republic) by Tomas Ba?a whose family had been cobblers for generations. A large order from the army, military shoes and rising demand for them, during World War I started rapid growth and small manufacture turned into modern industrial concern, one of the first mass producers of shoes.
In 1932 Tomas Ba?a died in a plane crash at the Zlín airport (attempting to take-off under bad weather conditions) and his half-brother Jan Antonín Ba?a became head of the company.
At the time of Tomas’ death, the Ba?a Company employed 16,560 people, maintained 1,645 shops and 25 enterprises. Most of what Tomas had built was centralized in Bohemia-Moravia (15,770 employees, 1,500 shops, 25 enterprises) and Slovakia (250 employees and 2 enterprises). The total international contribution to the Ba?a organization at the time of Tomas’ death consisted of 20 international enterprises, 132 shops, and 790 employees.
1894 – The T. & A. Ba?a, T. & A. Ba?a Shoe Company (T. & A. Ba?a obuvní spole?nost) registered in Zlin, Austria-Hungary by Tomáš, Anna and Antonín Ba?a
1895 – First business crises, Tomas takes over company’s control, Antonin leaves for the army, and Anna gets married
1897 – The”Ba?ovka”, the first fabric shoe, introduced and with it production mechanization, first machine from Germany
1900 – First factory building constructed
1905 – 2,200 pairs per day produced by 250 employees, in two shifts, sales departement founded
1909 – First export sales, first sales agencies in Germany, the Balkans and the Middle East; 3,400 pairs per day produced
1914 – World War I breaks out, large orders by the Austro-Hungarian army for military shoes
1917 – World War I large scale orders contributed to company’s exponential growth; 2 million pairs per year sold, 10,000 produced daily by 5,000 employees, advanced production equipment imported from Germany; “Ba?a community” around factory with shops, housing, schools and hospitals
1918 – Second crises of the company, massive losses, non-paid deliveries for the state (Austria-Hungary, the newly founded Czechoslovakia doesn’t recognize the debt); production down to 1,700 pairs daily
1929 – customs tariffs introduced in the world, Ba?a builds factories in Switzerland (Mohlin), Germany (Ottmuth), England (Tilbury), France (Hellocourt), Yugoslavia (Borovo), Poland (Chelmek), Holland (Best), the USA (Belcamp) and India (Batanagar); the “House of Ba?a’s service” (D?m Ba?ovy služby) opens in Prague, replacing older premises
1931 – Ba?a a.s. founded, replacing the former “T. a A. Ba?a”; by the early 1930s, Ba?a becomes the world’s leading footwear exporter
1932 – after Tomáš Ba?a’s plane crash his half-brother Jan Antonín Ba?a becomes head of the company; at this time the company continues the diversification into the production of tires, aircraft, bicycles, machineries; the “House of Ba?a’s service” (D?m Ba?ovy služby) opens in Brno
1939 – Ba?a operates 63 companies in various industries with footwear remaining the core business with 60 million pairs sold per year in over 30 countries; the Ba?a family leaves to the USA after nazi occupation of the rest of Czechoslovakia; Jan Antonín Ba?a “subdues” to the plans of Nazis to save the business, on the other hand supports the exile government of Edvard Beneš and the Czechoslovak armed forces in Britain, he saves a large number of countrymen, including Jews by using the Ba?a worldwide network
1960s – Company’s headquarters relocated to Toronto by Thomas J. Bata, further expansions through new factories in local markets
1970s – private labels created: Bubble gummers, Power, Marie Claire, North Star
1980s – Bata develops retailing: Bata city stores, large format stores and sport concept stores
1990s – Bata enters the high-price segment: Bata Premium collection.
1995 – Partnerships in Eastern Europe, Bata stores in Russia, Poland, Croatia, Slovenia
1999 – Bata concentrates on design, marketing and distribution, manufacturing moves to low-cost countries and subsidiaries
2001 – Thomas G. Bata, Tomas’ grandson becomes the Group’s chairman, restructures the business into regional “4 meaningful business units”
2007 – June 26, 2007, Communist Verdict Against Jan A. Bata Overturned. The City Court in Prague, Czech Republic has re-opened a 60-year-old case in which an international businessman and Czech nationalist was falsely accused of collaboration with the Nazis. Jan Antonin Ba?a, brother of the world famous shoemaker Tomas Ba?a, was sentenced in absentia in 1947 for collaboration with the Nazis by the National Court in Prague. Thomas J. Ba?a, 91, nephew of Jan Bat’a, testified on Monday in court to achieve the cancellation of the verdict against his uncle. He said that he believed that justice would win.
Current Situation
After the global economic changes in 1990s the company closed almost all its manufacturing factories in developed countries (USA, France, United Kingdom) this caused the elimination of thousands of jobs and it stayed only in retail business there. In developing countries still run manufacturing, for example in Zimbabwe’s third city of Gweru, it is the biggest shoe manufacturers in Southern Africa outside of South Africa.
The company is currently headquartered in Lausanne, Switzerland, with 4 business units:
Bata Europe, Lausanne
Bata Asia Pacific-Africa, Singapore
Bata Latin America, Mexico City
Bata North America, Toronto
Current shoe brands are:
Bata (Ba?a in former Czechoslovakia)
Bata Premium (handcrafted dress shoes)
Bata Industrial (safety footwear)
Bubblegummers (children’s)
Power (sports shoes and boots)
Marie Claire (women’s)
According to Bata, in 2007 the company serves 1 million customers per day, employs over 40,000 people, operates 4,600 retail stores, manages a retail presence in over 50 countries and runs 40 production facilities across 26 countries [low cost labor].
Special Event
In 1947 Jan Antonín Ba?a accused by the Czechoslovak communists of various “crimes” and sentenced to 15 years of hard labor in absentia and all of his properties in Czechoslovakia are confiscated
In 2006 – a township construction began to modernize the Bata Nagar factory complex (near Kolkata, to be completed by 2011, with 2500 housing for employees, a hospital, a school, an IT park, a hotel and residential flats along the riverside); Branded Business Division founded to consolidate all the branded business activities
The company was one of the 1986 FIFA World Cup official sponsors.