The Czech retailer, which has more than 5,000 stores in 90 countries, is concentrating on expanding in the Balkans, Eastern Europe and the Middle East, but will then turn its attention to the UK.
Bata international business development director Barbara Mariani said: “The UK is an important market for a global retailer and we are looking at opportunities to go back into the market in future.”
She said the retailer’s past product and stores in the UK were “not right at the time”, but the brand has grown a lot since then and is expanding rapidly.
“The UK is a very competitive market,” Mariani said. “I have been to London to look at the footwear offers in the past three months and shoppers have a lot of choice. The footwear style in the UK seems to be Americanised and when we re-enter the market, we have to make sure we have the right product at the right price.”
Bata – which is the world’s leading family footwear chain by store numbers according to research company Mintel – has four formats. These are flagship stores in prime locations with exclusive, fashion-oriented ranges; city-centre stores that range between about 1,290 sq ft and 2,690 sq ft; large-format stores of between about 2,585 sq ft and 4,845 sq ft in shopping centres; and value-oriented retail park stores of about 10,765 sq ft.
Bata also has another fascia, Athletes World, which it runs in partnership with Nike. Athletes World stocks sports and athletics products and its offer is made up of about 70 per cent footwear, 25 per cent apparel and 5 per cent accessories.
Bata began in 1894, when Tomas Bata started out in a one-man cobbler’s shop. The retailer now has stores in Europe, the US, Latin America, Asia Pacific and Africa.
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