Baťa (Bata Shoe Organization)

Baťa (also known a Bata Shoe Organization) is an originally Czech brand, a manufacturer and distributor of shoes and fashion accessories based in Lausanne, Switzerland. The company has more than 5,300 shops in more than 70 countries around the world, employing more than 49 thousand people.

The company was founded on 21 September 1894 by the Baťa siblings (Tomáš, Antonín and Anna) in Zlín. Early in the 20^th century, Tomáš Baťa (sole company owner from 1908) built the first company factory, with the most advanced machinery for manufacturing footwear. The number of employees reached 100, which made it one of the ten largest shoe factories in the country. Tomáš Baťa visited the USA several times and after each visit introduced innovations in the manufacturing process, e.g. the assembly line, which significantly contributed to the company’s growth.

After the Second World War, Tomáš Baťa expanded into the banking business, as well as advertising and marketing. The famous Baťa company logo was created in 1926 by drawer Jan Kobzáň. As early as 1928, Czechoslovakia became the largest exporter of shoes in the world, employing 29,500 people. Foreign branches were opened in Germany, England, France, Poland, Switzerland, USA, Yugoslavia, the Netherlands and other countries. The Baťa company became the first large company that systematically used aircraft for business trips, including fast movement of employees and spare parts.

During the Protectorate, Jan Antonín Baťa (Tomáš Baťa’s stepbrother who took over the company after his tragic death in 1932) began working in Brazil. Tomáš Baťa’s nephew Jan Baťa began building a factory in Canada (and led the company in 1945–1984).

In Czechoslovakia, the company was entirely nationalised as early as 1945, although its branches outside the Eastern Bloc continued working. After the Second World War, the new, communist regime tried to erase the name Baťa from public memory. Apart from changing the company’s name into “Svit”, the regime also changed the name of the city of Zlín into Gottwaldov. The Baťa company (since 1945 under the name Bata Shoe Organization) was very successful abroad (headquarters in Great Britain from 1945 until 1964 and in Toronto, Canada from 1964 until 2004). In 1975, it had 5,000 shops in 89 countries, employing 90 thousand people and manufacturing up to 250 million pairs of shoes.

The Baťa company has been based in Lausanne, Switzerland and has four subsidiaries: Bata Europe, Bata Asia Pacific-Africa, Bata Latin America and Bata North America. It has 5,300 shops in more than 70 countries on five continents, employing more than 35 thousand people manufacturing shoes in 18 countries.