Prussian period Initially Wiktor Weynerowski launched a furniture factory and a steam
sawmill at
Jagiellońska street, then at 45 Promenada street. These facilities operated till the outset of
WWII, when machines and devices were dismantled and taken to
Piła. On its stead, the Germans organized car workshops using the remaining buildings and halls. The history of the factory starts in 1876, when Wiktor founded a
felt footwear factory. He ran it in his modest apartment and after a few years moved to buildings at 34
Swiętej Trojcy street (non existent today) purchased from the former
Byring dressing factory. In 1891, Wiktor's son,
Antoni, took over the management of the company, which employed a dozen of people. In 1906, a plot of land at the corner of Kościuszki and
Chocimska streets, in downtown district, was bought and Antoni asked architect
Paul Sellner to design a modern factory complex. In 1912, the entire production and 300 employees were transferred to this three-story building equipped with social facilities and an
elevator for goods. After Wiktor's death in 1917, the company was run exclusively by his son Antoni. ===
Interwar period=== In the 1920s, the employment reached 200 people, and the daily production topped 200 pairs of various footwear (leather/felt/sports shoes and
slippers). Leather came not only from the local
Buchholz tannery in Bydgoszcz, but also from imported sources in
United Kingdom,
France and
Netherlands. During the
Great Depression, production was down by 70% and employment by 80%. Already, the brand "LEO" started to be known on the European market thanks to its massive export levels, with its logo portraying a stylized
lion's head. A factory branch dedicated to producing military boots was established in
Warsaw and land was purchased near
Mielec in
Małopolska where was planned the erection of a new plant in the framework of the
Central Industrial Region scheme. In Bydgoszcz, other smaller footwear factories operated. One can cite: •
Mechanical Footwear Factory "Standard " () at Dolina street, employing 100 people; •
Footwear Factory "Minerwa" of Sigurska and Tucholska (), established in 1922, at Chrobrego street, producing daily 400 pairs of shoes.
Second World War After German forces entered Bydgoszcz, the factory was taken over by the Nazi occupation authorities and confiscated. A German manager was designated, Walter Krause. The Weynerowskis had fled Bydgoszcz before the arrival of the German forces and the repressions against the civilians. They reached
Warsaw then
Red Army-occupied
Brest on the
Bug river. There, on October 15, Antoni was hospitalized for exhaustion and dementia and died on November 29, 1939.
Witold and his family escaped to
Netherlands while
Henryk was arrested and tortured by the Gestapo. Afterwards, he moved to
Konstancin near
Warsaw, where he ran a thriving shoe factory, saving Poles and co-financing the
Home Army.
PRL period After the liberation of Bydgoszcz, the firm was
nationalized •
tanneries in Bydgoszcz,
Włocławek,
Rypin,
Chojnice and
Lidzbark; • shoe factories in Bydgoszcz (i.e. "LEO", "Minerwa", "Junak", "Helios"),
Barcin and
Solec Kujawski. In 1948, the conglomerate (
Pierwsza Państwowa Fabryka Skór-
State Leather Factory Nr.1) has been employing 246 people and in 1954 - 1674 people, among whom 1050 women. In the 1950s, the company was merged into the
State Leather Industry Department based in
Łódź. In 1956, the (ex-"LEO") factory at Chocimska street was expanded. Furthermore, the conglomerate was re-branded
Pomeranian Leather Industry Plant "Kobra" () in 1960. The conglomerate was in deficit deepened by rigidly calculated selling prices, mismanagement and an extensive inadapted production. The factory was one of the most feminized plants in Bydgoszcz. On the one hand products intended for
export had to passed several
quality control tests several times as a warranty of high workmanship, on the other hand footwear delivered to local
retail usually was plagued with lower quality. In 1976, 26 to 33% of the production was targeted by
consumer complaints: Frequently, one can see constant queues of customers in front of the company shop at
62 Gdańska street, Through the 1970s and the 1980s, mainly men's shoes were manufactured in a classic design. The plant delivered approximately 13,000 pairs of shoes a day, including 1600s pairs for uniformed services (
Polish State Railways,
State Fire Service,
Milicja Obywatelska and
ZOMO). where 53% of production was shipped to from Solec Kujawski's plant in the 1970s. such as gold,
color televisions, sweaters, electronic watches, etc.
Post-PRL time and collapse In 1991, when
market economy took over the country,
Far East cheaper footwear combined with the collapse of exports to USSR left "Kobra" unable to compete, burdened with extensive infrastructure and large workforce and it found itself in a dire economic situation.
Trade unions refused to reduce the workforce and no changes were carried out (
commercialization, or
privatization) in the firm. In April 1992, the
bankruptcy of "Kobra" was declared, leading to a cessation of operations on August 31 and the entire personnel was laid off. In 2006, the company PZPS "Kobra" was suppressed from the National Court Register. ==Naming==