Bata: The story of a bankrupt laborer becoming an owner, now this Indian takes command

New Delhi. Footwear giant Bata Shoe Organization has announced the appointment of its India CEO Sandeep Katario to the post of CEO at the global level on November 30. The company has said in a statement that Kataria is the first Indian to work on a global role in Bata. He will replace Alexis Nasard. Nasard is leaving his post after working for 5 years. Let us tell you that Kataria had joined the company as CEO of Bata India in the year 2017. Kataria has been made the Global CEO of Bata with immediate effect.

Know who is Sandeep Kataria
Kataria, an engineering graduate from IIT-Delhi, is a gold medalist of the 1993 PGDBM batch from XLRI. He has 24 years of work experience. He has worked with Unilever, Yum Brands and Vodafone in India and Europe. Kataria worked in consumer goods company Unilever for 17 years. Before joining Bata India, he was the Chief Commercial Officer at Vodafone India.

Sandeep joined Bata India in July 2017 and two years later was made the President of India Region. Bata India’s profit doubled under Kataria’s leadership. Topline growth also remained in double digits. He attracted the youth by presenting Bata in new colors and flavours. In 2019-20, Bata India’s net profit was Rs 327 crore and revenue was Rs 3053 crore.

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The first factory in India was opened before independence
Bata has been the king of shoe manufacturing companies in India for a long time. Although it is an MNC company but its heart is completely Indian. This brand entered the country about 90 years ago. Bata opened its first factory in Konnagar, West Bengal, which was later shifted to Bataganj. After Bataganj Bihar, five factories including Faridabad (Haryana), Pinya (Karnataka) and Hosur (Tamil Nadu) were started. At all these places, cheap, comfortable and strong shoes are made from leather, rubber, canvas and PVC. Bata is a shoe brand in India which has its own loyal middle class customer community.

Know how Bata became the master of the hearts of the world
Bata is a company of Czech Republic. Thomas Bata started it in 1894. The company came to India in search of rubber and leather. The company’s business started from Kolkata in 1939. The country’s first shoe machine was installed in Batanagar. Today India is Bata’s second largest market. Bata was listed in June 1973. Its IPO came at a price of Rs 30/share. Bata has 1375 retail stores in the country in which 8500 employees work. This year the company has sold 5 crore shoes. The company operates in 90 countries. It has a total of 30000 employees and 5000 stores. Every day 10 lakh customers visit the company’s stores.

tomas bata

The story of a bankrupt laborer becoming an owner
The Bata family living in Zlin, a small town in the European country Czechoslovakia, had been making a living by making shoes for many generations. Years passed between struggles. The family’s fortunes changed in 1894 when son Tomas dreamed big. He made his sister Anna and brother Antonin his associates to professionalize the family industry. With great difficulty the brothers and sisters convinced their mother and received $320 from her. After this, he rented two rooms in the village itself, bought two sewing machines on installments, bought raw material on loan and started a business.

Learned work as a laborer in a shoe company
Tomas G. After his brothers and sisters left the business, Bata did not let the frustration overpower him and in just 6 years, he brought the business to such a state that now the shop started becoming small. To expand his business, Thomas had to take a huge loan. There came a time when due to non-payment of loan on time, he became bankrupt. In such a situation, Thomas and his three employees learned to work as laborers in a shoe company in New England for six months. During this time, he closely observed the working of many companies and returned home after understanding their functioning. Here he started work in a new way. In 1912, Thomas employed 600 laborers and provided work to hundreds in their homes. Bata’s exclusive stores were established by planning sales along with production.

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After the World War, Bata achieved tremendous progress and expansion through the formula of reducing prices. Bata’s shoe production increased almost 15 times and spread to about 27 countries. India was also one of them. The retail chain of Bata stores also became a hit and hundreds of its franchises started opening. During this time, Bata, thinking 50 years ahead, expanded the company by manufacturing products like socks, leather goods, chemicals, tyres, rubber goods besides shoes. Now Bata Shoe is no longer just a company but has been established as a group. Bata soon became the world’s largest shoe exporter. Tomas Bata built its headquarters in a building that is considered to be the tallest concrete building in Europe. On July 12, 56-year-old Tomas Bata died in a plane crash. Unfortunately, this accident happened with his plane after hitting the chimney of one of his buildings.

Tags: Business news, Success Story