The export of Bata shoes to Tunisia can be traced back to the late 1920s, in 1932 the first Bata stores in the country were opened and two years later a local Bata sister company which operated through the twentieth century was established.
- In 1929 the Bata Shoe Company exported 5,000 pairs of shoes to Tunisia; in the following year the export increased from 5,000 pairs in 1929, reaching 104,000 pairs in 1932. After those years export to Tunisia was mainly coming from the French Bata factory in Hellocourt.
- In 1932 there were 10 Bata stores in the country: Tunis, Sfax, Menzel Bourguiba (earlier Ferryville), Sousse, Beja, Kairouan, Bizerta, Gafsa, Gabès, Djerba; the sales campaign slogan was: “Bata shoes in every Tunisian village.”
- In the year 1934 an affiliated company Bata S. A. Tunisienne, Tunisia was set up.
- In 1939 Bata retail network consisted of 19 stores.
- In the year 1945, 200 employees worked in the Bata factory in Tunisia (1 rubber workshop and 1 shoemaking workshop).
- Around 1947 the company had the following stores in the country: Tunis 4x, Bizerta, Sfax 2x, Menzel Bourguiba (Ferryville), Beja, Kairouan, Nabeul, La Goulette, Souk-el Arba, Sousse.
- 1962 – the following Bata companies were enlisted for Tunisia: Bata S. A. Tunisienne (Tunisia); Manufactures de Chaussures “Mafranis” S. A. R. L. (Tunisia).
- In the year 1992 the company Bata S. A. Tunisienne, Tunisia was owned by the company.
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
- Thomas J. Bata, Remmembered, Zlín 2016, ISBN 978-80-7473-398-7
- Moravský zemský archiv v Brně – Státní okresní archiv Zlín, Česko