Brouk+Babka (B+B)

Jaroslav Brouk was a fellow student of Josef Babka and the two men founded their own company in 1908 in Prague. From 1910, Brouk ran the business alone, as Babka had health problems. However, the name of the company remained.

From 1928 the company built modern department stores for home furnishings and textiles throughout Czechoslovakia. The new concept included escalators, self-service from shelves, pneumatic tube to transport small packages (such as mail, paperwork) within the houses, mail order and children's play corners. All former B + B department stores have survived to this day. The most famous B + B department stores is the one built in Prague in 1939, called Bílá labuť.

After the Second World War, Jaroslav Brouk's son Jaroslav Brouk mladší took over the company. In 1948/49 the company was nationalised and the family emigrated.

Sources

• Wikipedia Brouk a Babka