If you are Czech or Slovak, there’s a chance you’ve worn the Bata Shoe Company’s selection. If you were Czechoslovak, there’s no chance you wouldn’t have worn Bata shoes at least once in your life! Either way, a strong sense of national pride wells up inside Czechs and Slovaks at the mention of this expansive, international sole sensation! Let’s dip our cap toes into the deep history of the Bata Shoe Company and its controversial head of business.
The story begins with Tomáš Baťa, born in Zlin, Moravia on April 3, 1876. Among a family of shoemakers, Tomas, along with his brother Antonin and his sister Anna, established the Bata Shoe Company in 1894. Rather than begin with one-man shops, the company utilized 10 workers at the very start before expanding to 50. This likely allowed the Bata Shoe Company to release the Batovka, a shoe that combined leather and canvas and sold at a low price, in 1987.
Between 1897 and 1912, the company rapidly expanded, including opening the first Bata store in Zlin in 1899, producing over 2,000 shoes a day by 1905, and employing 600 workers by 1912.
Of course, the company continued expanding into 1932, the same year that Tomáš Baťa, along with the pilot Jindřich Brouček, died in a tragic plane crash on July 12.
After his death, Tomas’ half-brother, Jan Antonin Bata, took his place. Jan continued the expansion efforts that Tomas started and found much success. Specifically, before Tomas’ death, the Bata Shoe Company employed over 16000 employees and maintained over 1600 shops and 25 enterprises. Under Jan’s leadership, the company more than doubled in size, with over 38,000 employees and 2200 shops and 70 enterprises maintained. By 1942, the number of employees, both in Czechoslovakia and internationally, grew to over 105,000.
These employees were not just creating shoes, however. Jan was involved in many enterprises. For example, in the world of advertisement and documentary, the Bata Film Studio, founded by Jan, was headed by Czech-American director Alexander Hackenschmied. One of the studio’s most famous films, directed by Alexander and Elmar Klos, is “The Highway Sings.” Some of his other enterprises supported the Allied forces’ future war efforts via pilot training.
Administration Building Number 21 (No. 21) is a landmark that signifies Jan’s success as the successor of the Bata Shoe Company. Even for a building completed in 1938, it is fairly modern by today’s standards. Each floor has its own temperature, in contrast to one temperature for the entire building. The flagship feature of No. 21, however, is the office inside an elevator. The office elevator can stop on every floor of the building. It has a sink that utilizes two water tanks: fresh above and used below. Other than the sink, it has standard office furniture and electric/light fixtures. Unfortunately, Jan Antonin Bata was unable to ever enjoy his novel elevator office.
Because of the Nazi occupation of Czechoslovakia, Jan lost control of the Bata Shoe Company in Zlin, but not before he attempted to negotiate with the Nazis. Due to the failed negotiation, Jan had to flee Czechoslovakia. After settling in the United States briefly, he was once again forced to leave, exiled due to his previous negotiation attempt. Having moved to Brazil, the entrepreneurial spirit still resided in the disgraced yet determined businessman, after which he established several company towns and continued to expand the Bata Corporation until his death in 1965. Bataiporã, Bataguassu, Anaurilândia, and Mariápolis are examples of company towns Jan established. His granddaughter Dolores Bata Arambasic lived in Batatuba, residing in the Piracaia municipality, until she was 16 to pursue education in the greater Sao Paulo state.
Administration Building Number 21, now known as the Bata Skyscraper, serves as a Zlin government office, museum, and tourist attraction. A nearby park hosts a statue of Jan right across from the building.
Even at the height of success, some people lose grasp of it due to circumstances out of their control. Jan Antonin Bata and his story shows us that achieving success is always within our grasp.
Written by Emanuel Linton
Sources:
“History.” The Bata Company, Bata Corporation, www.thebatacompany.com/about-us/history/. Accessed 7 Jan. 2025.
“Video: Pád Letadla Tomáše Bati. Co Se Odehrálo Na Palubě?” iDNES.Cz, MAFRA, a. s., 8 Aug. 2023, www.idnes.cz/technet/reportaze/video-tomas-bata-pilot-jindrich-broucek-havarie-1932.A171016_202619_veda_mla.
“A Testament to the Leadership and Innovation of Jan Antonin Bata!” History of Jan A. Bata, Czech Shoe Industrialist, 26 Apr. 2007, web.archive.org/web/20071016214433/batahistory.com/.
Tom Scott. “This man built his office inside an elevator.” YouTube, Google LLC, 28 Aug. 2023, www.youtube.com/watch?v=1yfX84RMQ3M.
“Brazil.” Bata’s World -- World of Bata, Univerzita Tomáše Bati ve Zlíně, world.tomasbata.org/america/brazil/. Accessed 7 Jan. 2025.
Willoughby, Ian. “Jan Antonín Baťa Always Said He Put His People First, Says Granddaughter Dolores Bata Arambasic.” Radio Prague International, 11 Oct. 2023, english.radio.cz/jan-antonin-bata-always-said-he-put-his-people-first-says-granddaughter-dolores-8201430.