Curaçao

Bata shoes were exported to the island of Curaçao in the late 1920s already, and, in the following decade, a Bata store was established. The Bata company remained present on the island in the following decades as well.

• In 1929, the Bata company exported 200 pairs of shoes to the island; in the following years, the export increased significantly – 10,000 pairs (in 1930), 99,000 pairs (in 1936), 253,000 pairs (in 1938).
• In 1938, one Bata store was in operation here, their number had grown to 2 by 1947.
• 1962 – the following companies were included in the list of historically existing Bata companies for this area:
  • N.V. Wiabex (Dutch West Indies)
  • N.V. Bata Handelmaatschappij voor de Antillen en Suriname (Dutch West Indies)
• Bata’s business activities continued in Curaçao after World War II (1955), with their centre being in Willemstad (1992 – Bata Curaçao, Willemstad).

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Sources:

• Z. Pokluda – J. Herman – M. Balaban, Baťa na všech kontinentech, Zlín 2020, ISBN 978-80-7454-928-1
• 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