Shoemaking and engineering are clearly the most widespread industries in the city of Slavičín, which is located in the Zlín region at the foot of the White Carpathians. This is where our shoe production is located. However, the tradition of these industries goes back a long way.
The tradition of the tannery industry in Slavičín dates back to 1861, when leather began to be produced and processed here. Shortly after the First World War, the founder of the company, Jan Pivečka, started the production of footwear. The original name of the company was JAPIS, which was the short name of Jan Pivečka – Slavičín. After the Second World War, the shoemaking family business JAPIS of Mr. Jan Pivečka came under the national administration of np Baťa. In the 1950s, it was incorporated into the national enterprise Svit (renamed Baťa plants) Zlín. The Svit np Slavičín plant achieved and continues to achieve consistently excellent work results in the production of military, work and safety leather footwear. An average of 1,200 workers worked here, approximately 1 million pairs of shoes were produced per year. In the 70s of the 20th century, the Svit Slavičín plant included the operations in Veselí nad Moravou - the production of men's and women's leather walking shoes, as well as the newest operation of Svit in Dolní Němčí (today the Baťa company) - men's leather walking shoes. The entire Slavičín plant produced approximately 2.5 million pairs of shoes per year.
