History behind Bata

Colourful Bata shoe tycoon dies, aged 93

Singaporeans are familiar with the Bata brand, but not the colourful tycoon behind the shoe giant.

Mr Thomas Bata, who passed away on 3 September, was a humanitarian and compaigner for free speech in both his native land, the former Czechoslovakia and his adopted home, Canada. He was also an ardent anti-communist during the Cold War years.

After his father's shoe empire was worn down by the Nazi occupation, Mr Bata left his homeland for Canada in 1939, the year WWII broke out. He fought in the Canadian Army during that conflict.

He rebuilt the family company from the ground up, then expanded it spectacularly from his new base in Toronto.

His proudest moment, however, might have come shortly after the 1989 Velvet Revolution, which ushered out the communist regime in the former Czechoslovakia. Mr Bata opened his first shoe store in Prague, and received a reception normally accorded to prodigal sons.

Today, Bata products are sold in over 30 countries. Millions of Bata shoes are sold each year. In some parts of the world, particularly in Africa, Bata shoes are so widespread that "Bata" is a word used interchangeably with "shoes".

To the day he died, his business cards identified him as the "chief shoe salesman".

*Extracted from newspaper My Papers - September 5, 2008*


Came across this article in the Singapore papers sometimes ago. It helped me to fill up some links that I was missing for the past few months. There is a Bata shoe museum in Toronto. I used to think, isn't Bata more of an Asian brand? Also because there is no Bata speciality shops here in Toronto (at least I have not came across one yet), so what is the significance of having a museum here?! Now I think I understand why...