Czech shoemaker Vasky acquires iconic Botas footwear brand

Zlín footwear company Vasky has taken over the well-known Czech Botas brand and will acquire its trademark rights.

"Botas is a Czech footwear legend. But it shouldn't live in the shadow of its former glory. It's time to show that the boots still have something to offer today," said the founder of Vasky, Václav Staněk.

Before the finalization of the deal, which was completed this week, Vasky and Botas collaborated to release a new collection of shoes onto the market that went on sale Wednesday.

Staněk said he would like to keep some jobs in Botas’s current manufacturing factory, so he will create Botas- and Vasky-branded shoes in the same warehouse. Vasky also aims to expand production domestically. 

Czechs will be familiar with Botas, which was launched as Botana in 1949. The Botas brand came into being in 1963 and specialized in selling sports shoes.

The company was hugely popular in the 1990s, with turnovers in the hundreds of millions of crowns. It also produced shoes for popular brands such as Puma, Salomon, and Jofa. The Botas 66 collection of shoes also performed strongly in the 2010s.

Although it achieved a net profit of CZK 7.6 million in 2021, its sales have been declining in the past two decades. A sign of Botas's shrinkage in stature is in the number of its employees – in 2001, the company employed about 1,200 people. Today, fewer than 90 people work for Botas.

According to the management of Botas, the company has been in liquidation since this year due to the increasing price of energy, costlier materials for production, and fewer sales due to the Russia-Ukraine war.

Vasky is relatively new on the market, but doing very well. Created in 2016 by then-18-year-old Staněk, it now employs over 50 people and has four stores across the Czech Republic. Praguers may be familiar with the central branch located on Na Příkopě Street. 

The company estimates that it will produce over 200,000 pairs of shoes in 2023. Aside from footwear, it also sells key chains, wallets, belts, handbags, and other accessories.  

Vasky’s acquisition of Botas means that the iconic Czech shoe brand will be given a new life and ensures its survival – perhaps even spurring more sales in the months and years ahead.