Victoria’s Secret to open in Vancouver: Second largest company store in North America

Ladies and gentlemen, start your proverbial engines, because North America's foremost name in sexy lingerie is opening up shop in Vancouver, and they're going big.

No, that wasn't innuendo, Victoria's Secret is actually planning to open a gigantic new store in the former downtown location of HMV at Robson and Burrard Streets. The two-level space will be the chain's second biggest store in North America. According to the Vancouver Sun, it will be an impressive 35,000 square feet, and if you've ever been to a Victoria's Secret, you know that's a lot of heavily padded bras.

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"This is a huge investment on their part," property manager Bob Nicholson told the Sun. "It's a flagship store, so they're expecting big things from it. And I think it's going to be a huge addition to the downtown area."

If all goes according to plan, Victoria will open her enormous West Coast boudoir in May 2013.

More than just giving Vancouverites something sexy to wear under their fleece and Gortex, the expansion of the American chain also represents a spot of retail growth that the rest of Canada has been lacking of late. Though national clothing sales grew 4 per cent this year after a particularly bad 2011, it still represents an overall downturn. Before the 2008 financial crisis, annual figures were in the 5 to 10 per cent range, according to the Sun.

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Still that hasn't scared American retailers away, at least in Vancouver. J. Crew, Forever 21 and Camper Shoes have all recently opened up shop on Robson Street.

Twitter reactions to the announcement were mixed, and ranged from "Best news of my life" to "Do we need another over priced lingerie store?" Whether Vancouver needs one or not, they're getting one.

Watch the video below of Jeanne Beker's fashion show.