Do you know of any business family who built a whole town near their factory and took care of all of the employees? And do you know of a business which built 18 such towns in 12 countries on four continents? A family that not only booted the world with affordable shoes, but also operated an airline and two airports, a shipping line, two bank houses, film studios, and a university.
The incredible hundred-year saga of the amazing Bata family is set against the backdrop of two world wars and the Cold war, which drove the Bata family from their native Czechoslovakia to Canada where they re-established and expanded the international shoe company we know today.