Locations #2

The shoe company Baťa from Zlín, which still exists today, focusses on industrial production and a distinctive corporate design at an early stage. The modern corporate management is also reflected in the architecture: Baťa relies on modern and functionalist factories, factory housing estates and department stores.

In 1936, a Baťa store opens in Ústí nad Labem (German Aussig an der Elbe) in the middle of the working-class district of Střekov (German Schreckenstein). The location on a corner directly at a crossroads is typical for Baťa, as are the huge shop windows and the entrance in the rounded corner of the building. The design resembles several other Baťa stores, therefore it is assumed that architect Vladimír Karfík designed the building, but this has not yet been definitively proven.

In 1939 the building is confiscated by the Nazis, and after the war the state takes over. After several reconstructions and alterations, the distinctive Baťa lettering disappears from the roof. The former department store in Ústí is currently owned by the social democratic party ČSSD, but its future is uncertain. With a sensitive reconstruction, a landmark of Czech entrepreneurship could be revived here - possibly with a completely new use.