History of Bata Brand

Bata (also known as Bata Shoe Organisation) is a family-owned global footwear and fashion accessory manufacturer and retailer with acting headquarters located in Lausanne, Switzerland. Organised into three business units: Bata Europe, based in Italy; Bata Emerging Market (Asia, Pacific, Africa and Latin America), based in Singapore, and Bata Protective (worldwide B2B operations), based in the Netherlands, the organisation has a retail presence in over 70 countries and production facilities in 26 countries. In its history the Bata has sold more than 14 billion pairs of shoes and was awarded the Guinness World Record as the "Largest Shoe Retailer and Manufacturer".

Brief History of BATA Brand

Founded in the Czech Republic in 1894, Bata was one of the first manufacturers to sell its products all over the world. As early as the 1930s, the company was active in Switzerland, Germany, England, France, Yugoslavia, Poland, India and the Netherlands. This expansion continued, and in the 1960s, 42,000 employees were working in one of Bata’s thousands of shops and many factories.

The foundation of this success was our continuous commitment to research and development.

Bata Industrials was founded in the 1970s in response to a specific demand from the market for footwear for professionals. Since then, Bata Industrials has evolved to become a designer, producer and marketer of safety footwear and socks, exclusively targeting the professional end user markets.

Today, Bata Industrials is one of the world’s largest manufacturers of this type of footwear, and the only one that is truly a global player. In Europe, the company is widely acclaimed for collections such as the BS2000and The Natural. With offices in the Netherlands, Chile, Mexico, South Africa, Kenya, India, China, Singapore, Australia and New Zealand,  Bata Industrials serves customer markets on virtually every continent.

We started production of the world’s first safety shoe in 1934 and have sold over 200 million pairs of shoes to date.

Now and Then 

2012

Introduction of The Energy Footwear (including Walkline). 

2010

Bata Industrials (Chile) develops a safety shoe for the trapped mineworkers in Chile. One of the trapped mineworkers, Mario Gomez, sends the shoe up to the surface as a ‘kiss’ for his wife.

2009

Bata starts ‘lean’ production.

2008

Bata Industrials’ laboratory receives the A-status certificate from the SATRA research and technology centre. Bata is the first producer of safety shoes to receive this certification.

In September 2008, Thomas J. Bata passes away in Toronto (Canada), right before his 94th birthday. He will be remembered for his warmth and respect.

2006

Bata Industrials offices worldwide enter into a partnership, forming the Bata Branded Business division. Advantages: substantial know-how in terms of specific work environments worldwide, purchasing and product development. The headquarters for this division is Bata Industrials Nederland.

2004

Bata Industrials invests in the further automation and robotization of the machinery and equipment, and the production line. 

1996

Last Bata store in the Netherlands closes. The only remaining retail outlet is the ‘Superstore’ located at the Bata factory in Best where shoes and socks from the company’s own factory, and others, are sold.

1980

Commissioned by the Dutch Ministry of Defence, Bata designs an army shoe. Bata decides to use robots for the production of the 90,000 commissioned boots.

1960s-70s

A wage explosion occurs in Western Europe during the 1960s. As a result, the labour-intensive shoe industry is relocated to the low-wage countries. In the late 1970s, Bata Nederland starts to specialise increasingly more in the production of professional and safety shoes and corresponding socks. The step from consumer to industry as customer base has been taken.

Bata no longer needs the large manufacturing complex, and in 1978, it sells part of its land, vacant buildings, and Bata village to the growing municipality of Best. The name ‘Batadorp’ disappears.

1961

150 Bata stores in the Netherlands.

1934

Opening of the Bata factory for the production of women's, men’s, children’s and athletic shoes. Stockings, slippers and rubber boots are also produced here. The Bata factory property is also the location of the boiler room, the tannery, the printer and a building company.

1933

After the success in Czechoslovakia, Bata also builds factories in other countries, including the Netherlands. Bata buys land from the municipality of Best to build a manufacturing complex and Batadorp, an exact replica of company headquarters in Zlín.

Why Best?

In the countryside of the province of Brabant, labour is available in abundance. The factory’s location is also favourable, in spite of the fact that it is situated on rugged and inexpensive heath (a ‘dime’ per m2), and is located a fair distance outside of Best. It is also situated at an intersection where the railway to Eindhoven, the Wilhelmina Canal and the Beatrix Canal meet. The factory has its own branch line, connecting it to the railway.

Batadorp

Bata builds Batadorp (Bata village) near the factory so that the employees could live near the factory. The neighbourhood comprises 130 homes, has its own school, medical centre, football club, tennis club, etc. Working, living, school and leisure time: it was all Bata. Batadorp was fairly isolated from Best due to the lack of a bridge over the Wilhelmina Canal. This contributed to the creation of a close-knit Bata community. You can still see a few of these Bata houses, across from the Bata Industrials head office and factory in Best. They are recognisable by their typical flat roofs.

1932

On 12 July, Tomas Bat’a dies when his private jet crashed near his own factory complex. Tomas Jr. inherits the majority of the Bata business and establishes the holding company ‘Bata Shoe Organisation’.

1922

Official opening of the first Dutch Bata shop in Amsterdam.

1894
Thomas Bat’a (pronounced ‘Batya’) establishes shoe factory in Zlín, Czechoslovakia. Thanks to smart entrepreneurship, mechanisation and competitive prices, in just a few decades, Bat’a succeeded in becoming one of Europe’s leading shoe manufacturers.

Fun facts:

• Bata was the first to implement a new system, whereby employees have regular working hours (6:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m.), are paid their wages on a fixed day, all employees have their own specific task in the production process, and people live outside of the workplace. Bata also maintains complete control over the spare parts for Bata products, the entire production process, and the retail trade in its products. 
• Bata was the first business to place large advertising signs at its own points of sale, to advertise in magazines, and to ensure that the prices end with the number 9.
• During World War I, Bata received an enormous order from the army, which helped the company prosper, even during wartime.
• Basic assumptions: A good shoe for the average man. The customer’s wish is sacred.