The company Vasky trade could produce around 300,000 pairs of shoes next year. This is twice the expected production this year, last year the company produced 45,000 pairs of shoes. While in 2020 the company’s turnover reached 120 million crowns, including VAT, this year it will be around 300 million crowns, and next year it could exceed 600 million crowns if the market develops favorably. At today’s event, Shoemakers live in the Museum of Southeast Moravia in Zlín, the owner of the company, Václav Staněk, told ČTK.
The 23-year-old businessman is often compared to Tomáš Baťa. “I had a goal, which I set quite early on, let’s say at 19, and that was to make over 240,000 pairs of shoes at the age of 24. That’s because it was with Tomas Bata, when at the age of 24 his company then produced and sold 240,000 pairs of shoes, so that’s the minimum we would like to reach next year, because I’ll be 24. But I think we could handle over 300,000 pairs, “said Staněk.
This year, the company launched a number of new shoe collections. Among them, for example, slip on sneakers, which is a designation for footwear, and children’s collections, so-called farmers or slippers. It opened a new store in the shopping center in Ostrava, also relocated the store in Brno and expanded its logistics center. The company expanded to Slovakia in the form of an e-shop. In the coming years, according to Staňek, she would like to establish herself in Hungary, Austria, Germany, Switzerland or Scandinavia.
The company was established in 2016. Initially, it sold its products online, and stone shops were added later. Last year’s and this year’s temporary closure due to regulations related to the coronavirus pandemic the company managed to survive, although, for example, in the case of a store on Na Příkopě Street in Prague, according to Staňek, it lost sales in the order of millions of crowns. “We managed what is important for us. We did not close anything, we did not release anyone,” Staněk said.
About 130 people are currently involved in the production of Vasky leather shoes. They work on them in several places, namely in the former Baťa factory complex in Zlín, in Lhota in the Zlín region or in the Zlín local part of Štípa. “This year we have expanded production in Zlín, we bought machines and refurbished them. We are trying to hire new people, it is difficult to find people from the field who can do it and who want to continue to do it. But somehow we are doing well so far,” said Staněk .
The company expects to expand production capacity for the coming years. It also plans to open stores in Olomouc, Pilsen or Bratislava and present new collections. According to Staňek, rising energy prices and inflation have not yet been reflected in the company’s product prices, but this cannot be ruled out in the future.
In the Zlín Museum today, people could see the production of Vasky brand shoes, in which handicraft plays a key role. The Shoemakers Live event also offered other demonstrations and workshops with a shoemaking theme, and some historical machines were also in operation.