ETA
| Subsidiary | |
| ISIN | 🆔 |
| Industry | Home appliances |
| Founded 📆 | 3 September 1943 (origins)[1] |
| Founder 👔 | Jan Prošvic Vilém Eckhardt |
| Headquarters 🏙️ | , , Czech Republic |
Area served 🗺️ | |
| Products 📟 | Small and large household appliances |
| Members | |
Number of employees | |
| Parent | NAY-Datart a.s.[2] |
| 🌐 Website | www |
| 📇 Address | |
| 📞 telephone | |
ETA is a Czech company and brand of home appliances headquartered in Prague. Its range includes vacuum cleaners, kitchen and cleaning appliances, personal-care products and large household appliances.[3] ETA a.s. is a wholly owned subsidiary of NAY-DATART a.s.[2]
The business traces its origins to 1943, when an electrical-appliance factory was established in Hlinsko as Elektrotechnická akciová společnost (ESA). After nationalisation in 1948, it became part of Elektro-Praga and developed into the Czechoslovak monopoly producer of most types of household electrical appliances. The Hlinsko operation began using the ETA trademark in 1960, and the company adopted ETA as its name in 1996.[4][5][6] Czech retail group HP Tronic acquired ETA in 2011.[7]
History
Origins and Elektro-Praga
ETA traces its history to 1943, when Prague businessman Jan Prošvic and industrialist Vilém Eckhardt established Elektrotechnická akciová společnost (ESA) in Hlinsko. During the Second World War, the factory produced electrical equipment for the German military while also beginning to manufacture household appliances, including electric irons and cookers.[1][4]
ESA was nationalised in 1948 and incorporated into the state-owned Elektro-Praga organisation. Hlinsko subsequently became an important centre of household-appliance production in Czechoslovakia. The National Technical Museum describes Elektro-Praga Hlinsko as the Czechoslovak monopoly producer of most types of household electrical appliances.[5]
The factory expanded during the 1950s and began exporting its products. By 1960, it employed more than 2,800 people. That year, Elektro-Praga Hlinsko acquired the ETA trademark, which had previously belonged to a pre-war electrical-equipment company. The name was subsequently used on appliances manufactured in Hlinsko.[4]
Privatisation and restructuring
Following the end of communist rule, Elektro-Praga Hlinsko was converted into a joint-stock company and privatised through the voucher-privatisation programme. In 1996, shareholders approved changing its name to ETA a.s.[1][6]
ETA remained a significant appliance manufacturer and exporter during the 1990s. Its products were sold abroad both under the ETA name and under the brands of foreign manufacturers and retailers. In 1996, exports accounted for about 47 per cent of sales and the company exported to 49 countries.[8]
During the following decade, the share of production carried out in the Czech Republic declined as the business underwent several changes in ownership and increasingly relied on external manufacturing.[9]
Investment company Benson Oak Capital acquired ETA and plastics manufacturer Plastkov in 2007.[10] The businesses were separated the following year, leaving ETA focused on household appliances.[11] The present legal entity, ETA a.s., was registered on 31 July 2008.[12]
In 2011, ETA ended household-appliance production at its historic Hlinsko factory after 68 years. Production was transferred to partner manufacturer E-Technik in Milotice nad Bečvou, while administrative, logistics, service and some commercial operations remained in Hlinsko.[13]
HP Tronic and NAY-Datart
In October 2011, Benson Oak agreed to sell ETA to HP Tronic. The Czech Office for the Protection of Competition approved the transaction the following month, allowing HP Tronic to acquire control of 100 per cent of ETA.[7]
ETA was subsequently integrated into HP Tronic's retail and distribution group. In June 2024, the group's parent company acquired Slovak electronics retailer NAY a.s. The parent, previously named HP TRONIC-prodejny elektro a.s., changed its name to NAY-Datart a.s. on 24 June 2024. ETA remained a wholly owned subsidiary.[2]
Business
ETA sells both small and large household appliances. Its product range includes vacuum cleaners, air-treatment and cleaning equipment, kitchen appliances, coffee machines, refrigerators, freezers, washing machines, dishwashers and personal-care products.[3]
At the end of 2024, the NAY-Datart operated 40 dedicated ETA stores in the Czech Republic and 8 in Slovakia, as well as the ETA.cz and ETA.sk online shops. The group reported that ETA products were also sold in 18 other European countries.[2]
Design and legacy
Industrial design played an important role in the development of Elektro-Praga products. Designer Stanislav Lachman worked closely with the manufacturer and contributed to many of its best-known appliances, including the Pluto and Jupiter vacuum cleaners and the Pragomix Speciál mixer.[4]
One of the later products associated with Lachman's work, the ETA 400 vacuum cleaner, was produced from 1981 to 1997. Around 2.4 million units were sold, approximately 55 per cent of them for export.[14]
The National Technical Museum holds more than 200 objects associated mainly with Elektro-Praga Hlinsko, together with design documentation related to Lachman's work. In 2021, the museum received more than 100 additional products, prototypes and design models from ETA's former company museum.[5]
The company's history and product design were the subject of the 2018 exhibition, organised by Retromuseum Cheb in cooperation with the National Technical Museum and the East Bohemian Gallery.[4] In 2020, Jiří Hulák and Kristina Šemberová published a book on the company and its products in cooperation with the National Technical Museum.[15]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Faturová, Marie (20 September 2004). "ETA začínala jako ESA". iDNES.cz (in čeština). Mafra. Retrieved 26 September 2026.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Výroční zpráva 2024 (PDF) (Report) (in čeština). NAY-DATART a.s. 2025. Retrieved 26 September 2026.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 "ETA" (in čeština). ETA. Retrieved 26 September 2026.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 Hulák, Jiří (2018). ETA – umění (a) spotřebiče (PDF) (in čeština). Galerie výtvarného umění v Chebu. Search this book on
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 "Household appliances". National Technical Museum. Retrieved 26 September 2026.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 "Největší výrobce elektrospotřebičů Elektro-Praga změnil název na ETA". Hospodářské noviny (in čeština). Economia. 1 July 1996. Retrieved 26 September 2026.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 "Spojení soutěžitelů HP TRONIC-prodejny elektro a.s., BENSON OAK CAPITAL COÖPERATIEF U.A., ETA a.s. a HP TRONIC Zlín" (in čeština). Office for the Protection of Competition. 7 November 2011. Retrieved 26 September 2026.
- ↑ Prskavec, Tomáš (28 May 1997). "ETA Hlinsko – dobrá portfoliová investice". Hospodářské noviny (in čeština). Economia. Retrieved 26 September 2026.
- ↑ Horáček, Filip (21 November 2015). "Příběhy českých značek: Od žehliček z Hlinska až k výrobě ETA v Číně". iDNES.cz (in čeština). Mafra. Retrieved 26 September 2026.
- ↑ Špačková, Iva (13 June 2007). "Benson Oak koupil firmy ETA a Plastkov". iDNES.cz (in čeština). Mafra. Retrieved 26 September 2026.
- ↑ "Hlinecká Eta se rozdělí na dvě firmy". iDNES.cz (in čeština). Mafra. 23 May 2008. Retrieved 26 September 2026.
- ↑ "ETA a.s." (in čeština). ETA a.s. Retrieved 26 September 2026.
- ↑ "ETA po 68 letech ukončí výrobu v Hlinsku". Hospodářské noviny (in čeština). Economia. 28 April 2011. Retrieved 26 September 2026.
- ↑ Hulák, Jiří. "Designem k prosperitě – Design a prosperita v běhu času". CZECHDESIGN (in čeština). Retrieved 26 September 2026.
- ↑ "ETA v životě našich domácností" (in čeština). Ministry of Culture of the Czech Republic. 25 November 2020. Retrieved 26 September 2026.
Further reading
- Hulák, Jiří; Šemberová, Kristina (2020). ETA v životě našich domácností (in čeština). Prague: scrptd media; National Technical Museum. ISBN 978-80-906402-4-5. Search this book on
External links
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