The department store in Zlín is coming to life, with 19 stores in operation

Zlín - The department store in Zlín, which reopened to the public in early November after renovation, is gradually coming to life. There are 19 stores and dining establishments in operation, with an additional five set to open at the beginning of next year, spokeswoman for the store, Martina Žáčková, said today to ČTK. The department store was built by Baťa in 1931 according to the design of architect František Lydie Gahura, and during the renovation, the building regained its original appearance, especially the unusual window arrangement.

"During the first half of the year, the range of services in the department store will also be expanded by a massage and rehabilitation center," said Žáčková. Recently, Bistrotéka Valachy opened in the building, which offers several dining establishments in an area of 800 square meters. "The core of the establishment is a bistro restaurant offering breakfast, lunch menus, and à la carte dinners, which is connected to a shop with selected products and its own sourdough bakery," said Tomáš Blabla, director of Resort Valachy, which also operates three hotels and a ski area in Velké Karlovice in the Vsetín region.

Bistrotéka employs 70 people and also offers a café with a pastry shop; by the end of the week, it will open a bar and a cone shop with both savory and sweet treats in paper cones. "It is true that opening such an extensive gastronomy establishment with so many staff members from bakers and pastry chefs to servers and cooks was not simple in the current job market situation. We dedicated almost half a year to the staffing campaign," said Blabla.

The resort will open its fourth hotel in Velké Karlovice on December 26, namely the Hotel Pod Javorem. "The hotel has a long-standing tradition, having offered a simpler and cheaper type of accommodation at a two-star standard for many years, and due to its location, it was particularly used for school stays or ski courses. Its previous operators decided to terminate the business this spring upon retirement. Taking over the operation was more or less a logical step. In the past months, we have made necessary work and adjustments, especially in the accommodation part, maintaining the simpler and cheaper type of accommodation standard," said Blabla. The hotel has 50 beds, bringing the total number of beds in the resort to 350.

The resort belongs to the HP Tronic group, which has rented the third to sixth floors of the Zlín department store, where it will move its headquarters in January. In the upper floors of the building, plans are underway to build a hotel with a restaurant.