Talk:Hot Topic

AFD - Keep

On 31 July 2004, this article was nominated for deletion with a question about the notability of the company. The consensus decision was to keep the article. See Wikipedia:Votes for deletion/Hot Topic for a record of the discussion. Rossami 05:16, 7 Aug 2004 (UTC)

I think the article about the company itself needs to be cleaned up a bit. And the discussion section cleaned up also. A lot of the things that people are saying within this article and discussion section about the company are rumors or idle speculation. The company is simply a retailer or despite what many think. Is ultimately about providing merchandise that coincides with the fans of different genres of music. Not everyone likes to be stuck with the cookie cutter image of Abercrombie & Fitch, Hollister, American Eagle, Express, and so many other retailers out there. Hot Topic provides somewhere for people to go and get the clothes for the way they want to look. And yes the merchandise does change over time. Its not about illiminating a customer, but changing what merchandise is within based on new music and the fashion that goes with that music. Why is it that Hot Topic out of any other company within the entire spectrum of wikipedia the only one where people can sit there and bash the company and say what they want without even verifying the facts before they do so. Anyone who wants to learn about the company can simply follow the company link at the bottom of the Hot Topic article to the company website where they can further their knowledge about Hot Topic. About what the company stands for and what they are doing. One of the reasons why the company is ranked so highly among companies people want to work for is because the company is very open and honest with its employees. I know that I am going on and on here, I just wonder if anyone who has said anything on this article or discussion page has even bothered to get the facts from someone before they have gone on a rant about something. And on a side note. Hot Topic is owned by Hot Topic, it also owns Torrid. It has not and as far I know will never be owned by an outside company. And for those who may be wondering I am not an employee of Hot Topic. I have friends who work there. And I am a customer of the store. I just felt the need to speak out.

The "Owned By Gap" Legend

Okay, people, listen up. I used to work for Gap Inc, so I would know: Hot Topic is not, nor has it ever been, owned by Gap. There are four stores under the Gap, Inc. umbrella: The Gap, Banana Republic, Old Navy, and Forth & Towne. Nothing else. (While I'm on the subject, I should point out that American Eagle and Abercrombie & Fitch aren't owned by Gap, either.) Go the Hot Topic's webpage. Are there any mentions of its supposed ownership? Now go to Gap Inc's site. Golly, where's Hot Topic on that list of brands?

Despite what the misinformed TearAwayTheFunerealDress would have you think, this is an urban legend with a very obvious moral, at least to those people who define their identity by where they buy their clothes. --Funkmistress 16:54, 13 November 2005 (UTC)

Hear hear! I'm on the other end of this spectrum. I work at Hot Topic...This rumor wont die. So I talked to my Distric Manager today about it. From the horses mouth, "We aren't owned by the Gap now. We've never been owned by the Gap in the past. We'll never be owned by it in the future."

I don't see how they could be a subsidiary of the Gap, since they're a separate publicly-traded company on NASDAQ. --Delirium 10:11, 11 November 2005 (UTC)

Criticism/Poser

This article needs a little more on the criticsm section. I'm not a writer, so I'd prefer not to write for the actual article, but I can provide some information and suggestions.

From my personal knowledge is safe to say that all true members of the punk subculture do not shop at hot topic (ever). Chances are the same goes for emo/goth, but I can't say for sure. Perhaps we should include a link to the sellout article and shortly discuss about how many bands who sell out will make their merchendise available at hot topic, because hot topic is often more accessable to mainstream than the subculture stores. Basically we should just elaborate on the way they are often trying to make prophit off of something that is counter-commercialism. Objectivism is key though, and I'm sorry if I have a tendency to be biased.

P.S. the person who wrote the hot topic article linked to poser, which seems to be about 3D modeling. I removed that link.

• • the intended link was probably: Poseur which can be spelled Poseur or Poser, as stated in the article by that name. 208.53.104.68 05:04, 14 April 2007 (UTC)amyanda

While it is not owned by Gap inc., Hot topic is still far from the trendy underground retailer that has gained them such a following with teenagers and others of various trends.

"On January 5th, 2004, Hot Topic operated 592 stores located in all 50 states and Puerto Rico. In addition, Torrid operated 76 stores in 25 states. In 2004, we opened a total of 91 Hot Topic and 24 Torrid stores, and in 2005 we plan to open a total of 65 Hot Topic and 45 Torrid stores. Both Hot Topic and Torrid have internet stores."-from the Hottopic [company website].

Aside from their somewhat false front Hot Topic merchandise is also extremely expensive and generally not of high quality. For example most clothes there other than t-shirts are upwards of 30$-40$ and often break soon after they're purchased. I speak from experience.

When did Hot Topic ever bill itself as an "underground retailer"? What the hell IS an underground retailer, anyway? From what I've been told, the company cheerfully acknowledges its corporate identity. Aside from the color scheme, its policies are nearly identical to The Gap, Express, or any other clothing store. Remember, all clothing stores - particularly those targetted at teenagers - sell an identity to some extent.

Just because certain cliquish and insular subcultures ("punks," anyone?) feel threatened by Hot Topic's image doesn't make the store itself inherently bad. The whole "controversy" seems to me as absurd as if rich people started to feel threatened by Banana Republic selling upscale, luxury clothing to people on middle-class salaries.

It's true, the clothing isn't of the highest quality, but that's a moot point. H&M, Forever 21, Old Navy and (especially) Abercrombie & Fitch all sell clothing of similar quality at similar prices (I once had an A&F shirt that lasted *one* wash before half the seams split), yet I only hear people whining about Hot Topic. Besides, if you go into any small, independently-owned "alternative" store, you'll see a lot of the same stuff that Hot Topic sells (remember, it *does* offer outside brands - Dickies comes to mind), but at higher prices.

Personally, I've never experienced the phenomenon of "broken" clothing, but it sounds rather unpleasant. --Aemilia 02:54, 24 July 2006 (UTC)

Being apart of the "Gothic/Deathrock/Industrial etc" subculture for nearly a decade (a subculture that's been around and underground since the late 70's), I can tell you that a majority of the "scene" thought the indie to chain expansion of the store was poser from the beginning. So I think the part saying: "Since late 2005, Hot Topic has been increasingly perceived as a "poseur" store (especially by metalheads), and some counterculture (goth, punk, Indie, emo etc.) consumers refrain from shopping there." should be changed a bit. It goes way farther back than 2005. Now I understand that that would just be P.O.V. if my statement was alone, so there are plenty of resources of out there of Goths and Rivetheads who have critiqued negatively (intelligently or otherwise) about Hot Topic. JanderVK 05:27, 26 August 2006 (UTC)

"Hot Topic Is Not Punk Rock"

The statement that MC Lars is a hypocrite for his merchandise being available at Hot Topic is a little inaccurate as it's rarely the artist that decides where his merchandise is sold. As an employee of a music merchandise store somewhat similar to Hot Topic but without major corporate levels, you get a much clearer view of how the whole ordering scheme works. The majority of the time, that decision is made by either the merchandisers (In this case, MerchDirect. [[1]]) or the companies themselves, mostly the latter. Same would go for the album as well. Until solid proof can be shown that MC Lars specifically intended his merchandise to be sold at Hot Topic, the statement that he is a hypocrite for it is purely opinion.

All I have to say is...MC Lars is not punk rock.

New rumour

On a Lilo & Stitch forum, they claim Disney owns Hot Topic. Yeesh. -- Zanimum 22:53, 20 April 2006 (UTC)

• At least this one is a little more valid than the GAP one (though still not true), considering they do sell quite a few Disney related products (ie: Tinkerbell, Jack Sparrow, Alice in Wonderland). --pIrish 12:25, 25 August 2006 (UTC)

Anime marketing continuity

As far as I know, Hot Topic is slowly dropping their anime merchandise rights because if you search at Topic's website under "anime" there are roughly 10 items or try searching with an anime title and see the few results you get. Another evident shift is that at the home page (link provided above) doesn't have a link to the anime merchandise. Last year, in late May, the anime merch was introduced to the chain and the stock (in comparison to recent stocks) was triple what it is now.

They also dropped a lot of their "goth" clothing, and started selling "emo" clothing a few years ago (atleast at the retail outlets). They sell whatever they think is trendy at the moment. So it's no surprise that after the initial boost in anime popularity was over(mostly due to cartoon network and major release "anime" movies), that they would slowly stop selling such items. JanderVK 05:18, 26 August 2006 (UTC)

--

Currently Hot Topic is /not/ dropping their anime licenses. They've recently begun to sell Bleach merch and continue to expand on their present "collections" (ie Naruto, Inu Yasha, Fullmetal Alchemist). They've started selling three new Japanese anime/J-Rock magazines in their stores in addition to the monthly CURE, Shojou Beat, and Shounen Jump. Look at any Hot Topic in an area that has a large amount of anime fans and you'll see what I mean. TheArtema 00:15, 11 November 2006 (UTC)

"Poseur" Image....

• Will somebody please remove the "poseur" image? I think you know what I'm talking about but, uhm, it would be nice to have the official logo (Only the thumbnail says poseur, but when enlarged, it reads Hot Topic). Wikipedia should not be opiniated. -Keru
  • I reverted to the original image. Figgie123 23:57, 26 August 2006 (UTC)

Trivia section...

• I'm recommending removing the trivia section about what articles Hot Topic sells. Kmart or Wal-Mart do not have Trivia sections about all of the types of things they have. It started here as a small list of things, and now it takes up more space than the article about the company itself. Any other thoughts? Figgie123 16:14, 12 September 2006 (UTC)

The entire article needs serious work, I'm just too lazy to do it-=I have other articles to work on. Feel free though. Just about any edits you make will probably be an improvement. Ungovernable Force^{The Wiki Kitchen!} 18:48, 12 September 2006 (UTC)

Competitors

Looking over Manic Panic's product list, I really don't see how they would be considered a major competitor with Hot Topic. Hot Topic has, in the past, even been licensed to carry Manic Panic goods, such as their vegan hair dye. TheArtema 06:46, 27 November 2006 (UTC)

"Nothing says individuality like spending $50 at Hot Topic"

Seems like this quote is only used as a sig by one forum user. I couldn't find it anywhere else -- so is that enought to have "A phrase has been circulating among internet communities" in the article? IMHO, it's not. (http://www.gamingforums.com/showthread.php?p=3310939) Gary Seven 16:36, 27 October 2006 (UTC)

Dress Code

"In terms of controversy with employment, the company does have some hypocrytical tendencies, for example some items the store sells are violating the store's dress code for employees."

That doesn't make sense. I mean, Macy's sells tube tops, but I doubt that employees are allowed to wear tube tops to work. Same for anyone working at a high-end lingerie store, or a swimsuit store...Since when do clothes sold at a store have to be in keeping with the employee dress code? It seems like someone was just grasping at straws for another negative thing to say about Hot Topic.

Yeah, pretty much every clothing store sells items that aren't acceptable as employee workwear. This is because the store is not selling only to its employees. I really don't get how this is "hypocritical." I imagine that line was written by a disgruntled employee (or ex-employee) who was disciplined for a wearing a strapless vinyl minidress and three-inch stilettos which she purchased at the store.

In fact, the whole criticisms section is a mess and needs to be rewritten. Practically every other sentence makes unsourced assertions. --Funkmistress 05:43, 13 November 2006 (UTC)

As a Hot Topic employee, I can say that our dress code usually has more to do with vulgarities on shirts and wearing Hot Topic accessories which have religious undertones, niether of which are allowed.Template:Unsigned6

Really the employees should know what is and isnt appropriate to wear to work.I think thats all there is to it. Most of the clothing you see at Hot Topic goes along with the theme of Hot Topic itself. But really what would Hot Topic become if the employees wore things like the employees in Macy's or JC Penny?--71.110.42.165 05:52, 23 November 2006 (UTC)

The Dress Code is just common sense. Dont Wear anything revealing vulgar or insulting. (im an employee also)

The Dress Code within the company is pretty much the employees can wear whatever they want to wear. So long as they are not revealing anything that shouldnt be displayed within public. NO sex, drugs, alchohol, or political slogans or images on the clothes. The company doesnt want the employee to force said employees own ideals or beliefs onto someone else.

Disproportionate Criticism

Ok so everyone knows that some people who think they're cool and elite don't like this particular business (and that's all it is, is a business) but having the criticism section be almost as extensive as the part that actually DEFINES the store is an infantile embarrassment to Wikipedia.Template:Unsigned6

Actually, bad users embarass Wikipedia. Content is just...content. Now, an embarassment to the company or its customers...that's a whole other story. anyway, we're working on it. Ace Class Shadow; My talk. 08:24, 28 November 2006 (UTC)

Dispell rumors directly on the page

Without going into specifics, the page appears to be a quick overview of what is sold, and then public opinion on the store itself. We should throw in the information that it's its own company, rather than people to continue to think that it's owned by Gap. Edman 23:32, 28 November 2006 (UTC)

The fourth word of the article is the NASDAQ symbol; that's a pretty strong indication it's a separate corporation (though I suppose it could still be owned as a subsidiary or something). What makes this rumor worthy of citation? If you can find a reasonable way to work it into the article, go for it, but to me it's as ridiculous as saying that Coca-Cola is owned by General Motors or some other arbitrary combination. - PhilipR 23:37, 28 November 2006 (UTC)

A college textbook called "Consumer Behavior" went into detail about brand equity and brand leverage, going on about how some companies are unsuccessful when they try to get different markets. For example, LifeSavers gum didn't succeed, because the brand was known for its niche of breath mints. Prego sauce was originally by Campbell's Soup, and was created because it was realized that the new sauce couldn't succeed under Campbell's.

So is it really outside the realm of possibility that Gap, a store that offers clothing options for a wide variety of people, would also like to make a niche for the 16-24 demographic? That's the whole point. Although I realize that the myth is not true, the idea is that which would seem totally plausible.

Alas, I can't find any good way to work it in to the article, though. Edman 22:11, 29 November 2006 (UTC)

Ah.... I see what you're saying. Another example is that some major US breweries a few years back started lines of more "microbrewish" brands that they don't immediately identify with the parent company; I think Miller Brewing was one, under the Plank Road Brewery name. You could certainly add it if you can find the rumors discussed (or of course debunked) in a credible source. - PhilipR 22:47, 29 November 2006 (UTC)

Okay, how does this placement look? I haven't copy edited it and it probably needs to have the wording changed, but I think the placement is what counts.

"...perceived as a "poseur" store, and some counterculture (goth, punk, grindcore, emo etc.) consumers refrain from shopping there. Indeed, a common charge leveled against Hot Topic says that their parent company is the Gap, which is also seen as a "poseur" store, however this is only a myth, and Hot Topic has always been their own company."

And then after that we put in a citation. However, I can't find any "reputable" pages that address the myth directly, and the only place it seems to be mentioned in is in messageboards and the like. Edman 21:36, 30 November 2006 (UTC)

Maybe you should just let it go. Lack of citation shows lack of notibility and you'd still be making the new "Gap is a poseur" claim, which would need separate citation. Ace Class Shadow; My talk. 23:24, 30 November 2006 (UTC)

Yeah, that's true. It's not really a big deal anyway. Edman 23:51, 30 November 2006 (UTC)

'Club'

Just a question; In the article it references 'a number of youth-oriented alternative cultures, such as Indie, punk, Goth, emo, club, otaku and lounge'. Is 'club' another term for raver, or another subculture entirely? Since the phrase in question just links to the Electronic genre page, I wouldn't know. ^-^;; TIA~ 24.13.93.171 13:45, 13 June 2007 (UTC)

Criticism section again

I deleted the criticism section as it had absolutely no sources cited for any of the claims made. Just because you don't like the store doesn't make criticism into common knowledge. White 720 22:12, 9 July 2007 (UTC)

Censoring the Article?

I believe that some Hot Topic supporters are editing the article to remove any critisism of the brand. I believe that the article should show all opinions on the subject, and filtering out all critisism is not NPOV, in my opinion, so offense, but the visitors of Hot Topic (Goths, Emos) are very defensive of themselves, and it is not out of reason or ridiculous to say they have erased all critisism to bias the article to their wanting.

--KaufmanIsAwesome 22:48, 23 July 2007 (UTC)