The export of Bata shoes to Morocco began at end of the 1920s and in 1932 the company opened its first stores. Two years later a Bata sister company was set up in the country. It was still conducting business there at end of the 20th century.
- In the year 1929 the Bata Company exported 7,000 pairs of shoes to Morocco; in the following years the export increased to almost a quarter of a million: from 7,000 pairs in 1929 to 249,000 pairs in 1932; in the following years the Moroccan market was supplied with shoes from the Bata French factory in Hellocourt.
- In the middle of 1931, the Bata Company opened its first stores, e.g., in Casablanca; in year 1932 the local retail network consisted of 8 stores: Casablanca, Rabat, Fes, Marrakech, Meknes, Oudjda, Taza, Port Liautey, Mazagan.
- In the year 1934 a sister company Bata S. A. Marocaine, Casablanca was set up; another company was founded in the neighbouring Tanger – Calzados Bata S. A., Tangiers.
- In the year 1939 one more sister company Negocia S. A., Casablanca was founded; a factory was established later in Casablanca.
- In the same year retail network consisted of 31 stores in Morocco and 11 stores in Tangiers
- In the year 1940 a shoemaking factory was founded; in the year 1945 the Casablancan factory employed 200 employees (1 rubber workshop and 1 shoemaking workshop).
- By the year 1947 the Bata Shoe Company had developed a retail network in the country: 25 stores in Morocco (Casablanka 5x, Rabat 3x, Fez, Meknez, Oujda, Marrákeš 3x, Port-Lyautey, Mazagan, Safi, Mers. Sultan, Fez-Mellah, Meknes-Medina, Mogador, Salé, Kourigba, Agadir, Taza); 11 stores in Tangiers (Spanish Morocco – Tangiers 2x, Melilla, Ceuta, Tetuan, Larache; Canary Islands – Las Palmas, St. Grus de Tenerife, Puerto de La Luz, La Palma, La Laguna); the company Negocia S. A. Casablanka, Maroko had the instructional role in managing Bata’s enterprises in Northern and West Africa.
- In the year 1954 the Company sold shoes in 38 own stores.
- 1962 – the following enterprises for the Moroccan territory were registered: Bata S. A. Marocaine (Morocco); Negocia S. A. (Morocco); Boutin S. A. (Morocco); Calzados Bata S. A. (Tangiers).
- In the year 1992 the Bata Shoe Company owned the company Bata S. A. Marocaine, Casablanca.
Sources:
- Bohumil Lehár, Dějiny Baťova koncernu, Praha 1960
- Jaroslav Pospíšil – Hana Pospíšilová, Rub a líc baťovských sporů, Zlín 2012, ISBN 978-80-7473-037-5
- Alain Gatti, Chausser les hommes qui vont pieds nus, Metz 2004, ISBN 2-87692-619-9
- Thomas J. Bata, Remmembered, Zlín 2016, ISBN 978-80-7473-398-7
- Moravský zemský archiv v Brně – Státní okresní archiv Zlín, Česko
