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Bata Shoes

Type	Private company
Industry	Clothing and Sports equipment
Founded	1894
Headquarters	Lausanne, Switzerland
Area served	Worldwide
Products	Footwear, sportswear, sports equipment, toiletries
Website	www.bata.com

Bata Shoes (Czech: Baťa or Baťovy závody) is a large, family-owned shoe company established in Zlín, modern-day Czech Republic and currently headquartered in Lausanne, Switzerland. Bata operates three business units worldwide – Bata Metro Markets, Bata Emerging Markets and Bata Branded Business. It has a retail presence in over 70 countries and production facilities in 27 countries. In its history the company has sold more than 14 billion pairs of shoes.

Foundation by Tomáš Baťa[link]

The company was founded in 1894 Zlín (then Austro-Hungarian Empire, today the Czech Republic) by Tomáš Baťa (Czech pronunciation: [ˈtomaːʃ ˈbaca]), 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.

Tomáš Baťa was recognised for his social consciousness, establishing housing, cinemas and advancement programmes for his employees. The phrase "work collectively, live individually" is one of his sayings. Baťa recognised the potential of large-scale production, and was often called the "Henry Ford of Eastern Europe". He saw technology as a means of progress, and wanted to make the shoes as cheaply as possible so that the greatest number of people could access them

In 1932 Tomáš died in a plane crash at the age of 56 at the Zlín Airport (attempting to take off under bad weather conditions) and his half-brother Jan Antonín Baťa became head of the company.

At the time of Tomáš's death, the Baťa company employed 16,560 people, maintained 1,645 shops and 25 enterprises. Most of what Tomáš had built was centralised in Bohemia-Moravia (15,770 employees, 1,500 shops, 25 enterprises) and Slovakia (250 employees and 2 enterprises). The total international contribution to the Baťa organisation at the time of Tomas's death consisted of 20 international enterprises, 132 shops and 790 employees.

Jan Antonín Baťa[link]

Under Jan Antonín Baťa the company grew quickly and continued its expansion throughout Europe, North America, Asia and North Africa. Zlín accommodated the largest part of the company, with manufacturing and headquarters.

Apart from shoes, Baťa also diversified into other areas (tyres, toys, plastic fibres, etc.).

1930s and 1940s[link]

Lockheed 10 Electra executive aircraft operated prewar by Bata in Europe

Jan Baťa expanded the Bohemian and Moravian part of the business, more than doubling its size to 38,000 employees, 2,200 shops and 70 enterprises. In Slovakia, the business grew from 250 employees to 12,340 and 8 enterprises.

In the face of a worldwide depression, Jan Baťa, following the plans laid down by Tomas Bata before his death, expanded the company more than six times its original size throughout Czechoslovakia and the world. From the time of his brother's death, in 1932, to 1942, he grew the Baťa organisation to 105,770 employees.

During the 1930s, imports from Czechoslovakia ultimately became too expensive, due to the economic crisis in Europe at the time. Jan Antonín also established subsidiaries in several foreign countries (for example in Brazil and Britain). Following the overseas expansion, Bata owned executive aircraft to transport managers between the various company locations.

Bata-villes[link]

Company policy initiated under Tomas Bata was to set up villages around the factories for the workers and to supply schools and welfare.

These villages include Batadorp in the Netherlands, Baťovany (present-day Partizánske) and Svit in Slovakia, Baťov (nowadays Bahňák, part of Otrokovice) in the Czech Republic, Borovo-Bata (nowadays Borovo Naselje, part of Vukovar in Croatia then in Kingdom of Yugoslavia), Bataville in Lorraine, France, Batawa in Canada, East Tilbury^[1] in Essex, England, Batapur in Pakistan and Batanagar and Bataganj in India. There was also a Bata shoe factory in Maryland, USA, northeast of Baltimore, that was next to U.S. Route 40. This town was named Belcamp http://www.kilduffs.com/BATA.html.

The company, which established itself in India in 1931, started manufacturing shoes in Batanagar in 1936.

In 1922, the first Bata shop abroad opened in the Netherlands; in 1933, construction began on the Bata shoe factory in Best, in the Dutch province of Brabant, at the intersection of the railway tracks leading to Eindhoven and the Wilhelmina Canal located nearby. There was an abundance of inexpensive and hard-working labourers in the Brabant countryside.

The British "Bata-ville" in East Tilbury inspired the documentary Bata-ville: We Are Not Afraid of the Future.

During World War II[link]

After Germany occupied the rest of pre-war Czechoslovakia (15 March 1939) Jan Antonín Baťa, who left the country with his family after a brief time in jail after the Nazi occupation, tried to save as much as possible, submitting to the plans of Germany as well as supporting financially the Czechoslovak Government-in-Exile led by Edvard Beneš.

Foreign factories were separated from mother company and ownership of plants in Czech lands was transferred to one member of the family.

Jan Antonín Baťa stayed in the Americas from 1939–1940, but as America entered the war, he felt it would be safer for his co-workers and their families back in occupied Czechoslovakia if he left the United States.

After the war[link]

This article is written like a personal reflection or essay rather than an encyclopedic description of the subject. Please help improve it by rewriting it in an encyclopedic style. (May 2011)

Canada - Thomas J. Bata[link]

Bata International Centre 1965-2004

Anticipating the Second World War, Thomas J. Bata, the founder's son, together with over 100 families from Czechoslovakia, moved to Canada in 1939 to develop the Bata Shoe Company of Canada, including a shoe factory and engineering plant, centred in a town that still bears his name, Batawa, Ontario. Thomas J. Bata successfully established and ran the new Canadian operations and, during the war years, he sought to maintain the necessary coordination with as many of the overseas Bata operations as was possible. During this period, the Canadian engineering plant manufactured strategic components for the Allies' war effort and Thomas J. Bata worked together with the Czechoslovak government-in-exile of President Beneš and with other democratic powers. The Second World War saw many Bata businesses in Europe and the Far East destroyed. After the Second World War, the core business enterprise in Czechoslovakia and other major enterprises in Central and Eastern Europe were nationalised by the Communist governments. Thomas devoted himself to the rebuilding and growth of the Bata Shoe Organisation, together with his wife and partner, Sonja. He successfully spearheaded ethical and innovative expansion into new markets throughout Asia, the Middle East, Africa and Latin America. Under his leadership, the Bata Shoe Organisation experienced unprecedented growth and became the world's largest manufacturer and marketer of footwear, selling over 300 million pairs of shoes each year and employing over 80,000 people. In 1964, the headquarters of the Bata Shoe Organisation was moved to Toronto, Canada and in 1965 it moved into an ultra-modern building, the Bata International Centre. The Bata Shoes' former headquarters in North York, Ontario was designed in the 1960s by architect John B. Parkin. The building was later sold and was to be replaced by a cultural centre, museum and park.^[2] Other Bata family contributions to Canadian life include: Mrs. Sonja I. Bata founding the Bata Shoe Museum in Toronto in 1998, Mr. and Mrs. Bata being supporters of Trent University, where the Thomas J. Bata Library bears Bata's name and supporters of York University in Toronto.

After the Second World War, the Bata Shoe Organisation was led by Thomas J. Bata (Tomáš Baťa Junior), son of Tomáš Baťa and the company grew significantly under Thomas J. Bata's driving leadership. In 2002, the headquarters was moved to Lausanne, Switzerland and the organisation has been led by Thomas G. Bata, grandson of Tomáš Baťa.

Present[link]

The red coloured countries indicate those which currently have Bata Shoe Stores

After the global economic changes in 1990s, the company closed a number of its manufacturing factories in developed countries and has focussed its activities on expanding its retail business there. In developing countries it still has a large number of manufacturing units and still produces a significant number of shoes each year.:

Bata Store Wenceslas Square in Prague, the Czech Republic - 2005

The company is currently headquartered in Lausanne, Switzerland, with 3 business units

• Bata Metro Markets, Lausanne
• Bata Emerging Markets, Singapore
• Bata Branded Business, Best, Netherlands

Current shoe brands are:

• Bata (Baťa in former Czechoslovakia)
• Bata Premium (handcrafted dress shoes)
• Bata Industrials (safety footwear)
• Bubblegummers (children)
• Power (athletic shoes)
• Marie Claire (women)
• Hush Puppies (Premium) [Hush Puppies is owned by Wolverine Worldwide and not Bata]
• North Star (youth)
• Weinbrenner (Premium Outdoor Shoes)

Naturelizer (Premium women category)

According to Bata, in 2007, the company served 1 million customers per day, employed over 40,000 people, operated 4,600 retail stores, managed a retail presence in over 50 countries and had 40 production facilities across 26 countries.

Czechoslovakia after 1989[link]

After the "Velvet Revolution" in November 1989, Thomas J. Baťa arrived as soon as December 1989. He was warmly welcomed by the population.

The Czechoslovak government offered him the opportunity to invest in the ailing Svit. Since companies "nationalised" before 1948 were not returned to their original owners, the state continued to own Svit and "privatised" it during voucher privatisation in Czechoslovakia. Its inability to compete in the free market led to its decline and in 2000 Svit went bankrupt.

In popular culture[link]

The 1968 Czech film All My Compatriots by Vojtěch Jasný, in a scene set in 1948, refers to Baťa putting small shoemakers out of business.

See also[link]

• Baťa’s Skyscraper, Zlín
• Bata Shoe Museum, Toronto
• Bata shoe factory (East Tilbury)

References[link]

1. ^ Bata Reminiscence and Resource Centre
2. ^ Bata Shoes Headquarters, Urban Exploration Resource

External links[link]

Media related to Bata Shoes at Wikimedia Commons

• Bata International Worldwide portal of Bata Shoes
  • Bata Bangladesh
  • Baťa a.s., Czech operation of Bata Shoes (in Czech)
  • Bata India
  • Bata Industrials
  • Bata Kenya
  • Bata Pakistan
  • Bata Sri Lanka
  • Bata Thailand
  • Bata Estonia
• Bata Memories history of Bata community in Essex, UK
• "Bata-ville – We are not afraid of the future": somewhere.org.uk/bata-ville / bata-ville.com, Somewhere, 2007 United Kingdom "Against the backdrop of economic regeneration, former employees of two now closed UK Bata factories are led on a unique journey through Bata's legacy and across a changing Europe."

Shoes by Roger Vivier for Christian Dior

Roger Vivier (1907–1998) was a French fashion designer who specialized in shoes. His best known creation was the Stiletto heel.^[1]

Vivier has been called the "Fragonard of the shoe" and his shoes "the Fabergé of Footwear"^[2] by numbers of critics. He designed extravagant richly-decorated shoes that he described as sculptures. He is credited with the design of the first stiletto heel in 1954.^[3] Stiletto heels, the very thin high heel, were certainly around in the late 19th century as numerous fetish drawings attest, but Vivier is known for reviving and developing this opulent style by using a thin rod of steel.

Ava Gardner, Gloria Guinness and The Beatles were all Vivier customers, and he designed the shoes for Queen Elizabeth II for her coronation in 1953.^[4]

Vivier designed shoes for Christian Dior from 1953 to 1963. In addition to the stiletto heel, he also experimented with other shapes including the comma. He used silk, pearls, beads, lace, appliqué and jewels to create unique decorations for his shoes.

In the 1960s Vivier also designed silk-satin knee boots outlined in jewels, and thigh-high evening boots in a black elastic knit with beads. His most iconic design, the Pilgrim pumps with silver buckles (worn by Catherine Deneuve in the film Belle de Jour) received international publicity and many imitations.

Visitors flock to his boutique on the Rue St. Honore, whose design is famous for being inspired by Vivier's apartment. Exclusivity is the hallmark of the line, with many shoes made to order, some with hand-embroidered gold thread. There are now three shops in the US. The latest opened in Ocean County, CA in May 2012. ^[5] Vivier's shoes are on display at the Costume Institute of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, the Victoria and Albert Museum in London and the Musée du Costume et de la Mode at the Louvre.

References[link]

External links[link]

• Roger Vivier designer profile at Fashion Model Directory
• "Viva Vivier". Sutton's Law. http://suttons-law.blogspot.com/2012/05/viva-vivier.html?spref=fb. Retrieved 7 May 2012. 
• "Roger Vivier – Shoes". Victoria and Albert Museum. http://www.vam.ac.uk/vastatic/microsites/1486_couture/exhibHighShoes.php. Retrieved 13 November 2007. 
• "Pair of evening shoes, given by Mrs Loel Guinness". Victoria and Albert Museum. http://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O138235/pair-of-evening/. Retrieved 29 July 2011. 
• "Pair of evening shoes, given by Princess Stanislaus Radziwill". Victoria and Albert Museum. http://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O138246/pair-of-evening/. Retrieved 29 July 2011. 

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