Bata Rampura in Rampura, Dhaka

The Bata Shoe Organization was founded in 1894 by Czech businessman Tomas Bata in the city of Zlin, what was then Czechoslovakia. Coming from a family of shoemakers with a long heritage of eight generations and over three hundred years, Tomas Bata capitalized on knowledge, expertise and skills to propel his newly founded company forward. The introduction of factory automation, long distance retailing and modernized shoe making ensured the profitability of the company from the very beginning. It is now the world’s largest manufacturer and marketer of footwear operating across the globe.

Today the Bata Shoe Organization is a sprawling geo-centric company encompassing operations in more than 70 countries around the world and is managed by 3 Meaningful Business Units (MBU) across five continents. It serves over 1 million customers per day, employs more than 50,000 people, operates more than 5,000 retail outlets, manages retail presence in over 70 countries and runs 27 production facilities across 20 countries.

In Bangladesh, Bata Shoe Company Bangladesh runs over 263 international retail outlets with its presence in over 63 cities across the country, and has around 13 depots in its non-retail sector. Bata operates two manufacturing facilities in Bangladesh – one in Tongi and the other in Dhamrai. As one of the world's leading manufacturers and retailers, the company also holds the largest market share contributing Tk. 1.2 billion which represents approximately 70% of tax paid by the entire footwear sector of Bangladesh.