Victoria’s Secret opens Calgary Chinook Centre store

CALGARY – Hundreds of Calgarians lined up early Thursday morning for the official opening of the new Victoria’s Secret store at Chinook Centre.

And in typical Victoria’s Secret fashion, two of the iconic U.S. retailer’s Angels – supermodels Doutzen Kroes and Candice Swanepoel – officially cut the ribbon to welcome the store’s much-anticipated entrance into the Calgary marketplace.

Part of the lure to Victoria’s Secret is the retail category, said David Finch, assistant professor of marketing at the Bissett School of Business at Mount Royal University.

“The uniqueness of the category and it’s a naughty side of people’s desire that they don’t talk about necessarily but it’s frankly on the front of Cosmo. So that creates some of the buzz and interest in the category,” said Finch.

“I think a big part of it is the scarcity. When somebody can’t get something there’s enormous desire to have it … Anyone who’s had an opportunity to go to L.A. on vacation with their kids, slides into the Victoria’s Secret store. Therefore being able to get it and access it locally is something that they want to do and drive that buzz. They create a ton of momentum around that by bringing in their models which is the face of their brand.”

Swanepoel and Kroes will also have a public autograph signing at the store from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. tonight.

“You look at the targeted audience for Victoria’s Secret it’s all about aspiration. Everyone wants to be Claudia Schiffer if you’re a 28-year-old woman so therefore bringing her in or bringing the supermodels in kind of creates that aspiration that they want to go to,” said Finch.

Michael Kehoe, an Alberta-based retail specialist with Fairfield Commercial Real Estate Inc., said no other retailer puts on a show like Victoria’s Secret when it comes to the theatre of retail.

The morphing of retail and entertainment into “shoppertainment” reaches its highest level at the grand opening of Victoria’s Secret, said Kehoe.

“The intimate apparel business in Calgary is a crowded category with over 33 stores competing for customer attention and the best way to stand out from the competition is to put on a show,” he said.

Calgary Herald