Prague Journal

Wednesday, July 20, 2005.

Ondra and I met at the Florence bus station at 7:15 for our trip to Zlin, an industrial town built by Tomáš Bat’a not far from the Czech/Slovak border. Olga has arranged a tour of the city for us, and planned to meet us in Zlin at 4pm. We got a call at 8:30 from her secretary, after we were on the bus and on our way, to say that Olga was sick and would not be able to meet with us, but we would still have a tour. We arrived in Zlin around 12:30 – delayed because of an accident on the Prague-Brno highway that necessitated a half-hour detour—and were greeted by Dominika, whose father works for Gity in Brno. Dominika is from Zlin, but is here just for the summer, visiting family and friends. She will finish her baccalaureate degree this fall from Indiana University, having gone there four years ago on a tennis scholarship. Dominka took us to the Tomáš Bata mansion, which is now the Tomáš Bata foundation. We were supposed to have been met by someone to take us for a tour of the mansion, but no one showed up so we just walked through the rooms on the main floor ourselves.
Tomáš Baťa was born in Zlin on April 3, 1876, and was known as the Cobbler of Zlin. With his brother and sister, he founded the Bat’a Shoe Organization in 1894, which became one of the world’s largest multinational retailer, manufacturer and distributor of footwear and accessories. Bat’a introduced factory-style production and long distance retailing, and modernized the shoe-making industry. Eventually Bat’a obtained sole control of the company and the company surged ahead in production and profits. WWI created a booming demand for military shoes, and the company quickly became one of the prime brands. Tomáš also exhibited his business acumen with his initiatives towards producing low-cost shoes for the general public, whose purchasing power had been significantly reduced in the aftermath of the war. He also set up factories and companies in other countries like Poland, Yugoslavia, the Netherlands, Denmark, the UK and US. Each factory was self-sufficient and autonomous in its design, production and distribution strategies, in a move to focus them towards catering to the local population. By the early 1930s, the Baťa enterprise and Czechoslovakia were the world’s leading footwear exporters. Baťa was also widely regarded as a businessman with an acute sense of social consciousness. He is quoted by many as one of the first pioneers of employee welfare and social advancement programs. He is credited with efforts to modernize his hometown providing the people with employment, and housing facilities, making him a very popular citizen in the town. His goal was “Good and cheap shoes, even for the very poorest, and high wages for all who worked for him.” He also became the mayor of Zlín. Tomáš Baťa died in a plane crash in 1932. After his demise, his son Tomáš (who is still living in Canada) took over the company. The Zlín factory was appropriated by the communists and is no longer part of the Bata empire, but the Bata company still exists, now mainly as an importer and distributor, rather than a manufacturer, of footwear. Today the company operates in 68 countries.
Dominika took us for a drive around Zlín to see the town and the brick houses that Tomáš Bata built for his factory workers. These small brick houses still exist, but many have been renovated and expanded to suit today’s tastes and affluence. Dominika’s mother has worked as a buyer for the Bat’a company for many years.
Next, we went to Tomáš Bata University. Again, no one was there, and we only walked through the first floor. The university was established in 1995-97 by Tomáš Bata, the son/nephew of the founders of the Bata shoe empire. The building we visited was new, built in 2000. Apparently there was a school of Technology here in 1960, built as a college workplace for the Svit factory, which had previously been the site of the Bat’a shoe factory before state appropriation. At that time, this school was part of the Technical University of Brataslava (Slovakia). In 1963 it became a part of the Technical University in Brno to train specialists in leather, plastics and rubber technology. Officially, Tomáš Bata University in Zlin was established on November 14, 2000, when then-President Václav Havel signed the legal foundation documents.
Our last stop was the top of the 16-story building that Bat’a built in the 1930s, the tallest building in the country at that time. We had coffee on the terrace and talked about some of the differences between Prague and Zlin. To the Czechs, Prague is not typically Czech, since it is such a tourist city, and so influenced by German multinational companies, expats and visitors.
Dominika took us to the bus station, where I caught the 4:30 bus back to Prague and Ondra walked to the train station to visit some friends in the nearby area. I arrived home shortly after 9pm, and Rick had dinner waiting for me.

posted by JWinn @ 10:00 PM