Market Hall at Labour Square
The first Bata department store was supposed to teach the villagers, coming to Zlín for work, about city life. The large dining room, shops, services and cinema, home delivery and delicacies, not available elsewhere, were already ahead of their time. To this day, the Bata spirit is present here.
The market building from 1927 was designed as a reinforced concrete skeleton with brick infill, the same as used in the nearby factory complex. The reason for this was to save money but it also helped to create a clearly legible and at first sight easily identifiable character of the Zlín buildings.
The Market Hall was a place of modern trade and services. Hundreds of workers came to Zlín from villages in Wallachia, Haná, Moravian Slovakia but also from Slovakia and Bohemia. For them, the modern city was a phenomenon to which they had to adapt. Days were divided into working hours and rest time, and they were also to be filled with social life that started on the way home from work. A public space for rest and gatherings was created at the Labour Square (náměstí Práce). The Market Hall offered shops and services, the first cinema, a theatre and a common dining room.
Together with the Department Store, they formed both a background for Zlín households and also helped to return workers' wages, very high for that time, back to the company and the city of Zlín.
Interesting facts
The Market Hall still serves its original purpose. You can find shops, cafés, restaurants and bars here. On the ceiling lintels you can read Bata's slogans from the time when the Market Hall opened.
