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I had forgotten that Hot Topic existed. The last time I ventured into that dark and gloomy corner of the mall was to secretly purchase incense and Marilyn Manson CDs in high school, which already dates me. I had relinquished my velvet chokers and leather cuffs for the perky, bright lights of Forever 21. I threw away my plaid flannel shirts. And then I read Twilight and quickly became obsessed with the angsty vampire love story and the insanely good-looking actors who portray them on film. Reading about them wasn't enough. Watching them wasn't enough. I had to take my obsession to the next level. I had to shop.
Twilight T-shirts. Twilight hoodies. Twilight jewelry. Twilight lunch boxes. Twilight slap bracelets. Executives say Twilight has been their best-selling license in at least a decade. Bigger than Harry Potter, bigger than SpongeBob, bigger than Care Bears (which, in case you didn't know, are beloved by ironic happy goths). And all have been sold almost exclusively at a store that will enjoy its second wave of miraculous good luck starting today, when the film version of the second installment in the series, New Moon, hits theaters.
My Hot Topic phase came and went faster than you can say Nine Inch Nails—and, apparently, so did everyone else's. Over the past decade, Hot Topic's customer base has dwindled. The chain had carved out a niche for itself in the mall as the store for goths, loosely defined as anemic teenagers who dressed in black and listened to The Cure. It sold music, clothes, cheap accessories, and the idea that shopping at a national chain store in a suburban shopping mall could still be rebellious, so long as they turned the stereo up loud enough. It was the store that employed pierced young people, perhaps with dangerous-looking tattoos, who my mom was afraid to talk to. Truth be told, I was afraid to talk to them. But where else could I find colored laces for my Dr. Marten's?
Then fickle teenagers began gravitating toward more preppy styles, like Juicy Couture sweatsuits, or urban apparel such as designer sneakers. The economy boomed, and fashion felt flush. Girls aspired to be Carrie from Sex and the City rather than Shirley Manson from Garbage. Hot Topic sales slumped, even losing money during some quarters. The chain tried to turn the tide by hiring young buyers to troll rock clubs for the latest styles, the newest bands. It offered up its stores as a performance space for local musicians. It painted the walls a lighter color in an effort to dispel its dark image. Nobody really noticed.
Then along came Twilight. The franchise was a perfect fit with what was left of Hot Topic's core customers. It accomplished what the store had tried but failed to do: It made goth mainstream. For those of you who have not yet been bitten, a brief synopsis of the plot: Awkward, neurotic Bella Swan (played by Kristen Stewart) falls in love with an excruciatingly handsome and even more neurotic vampire named Edward Cullen (Robert Pattinson). Vampire must decide whether he really loves her or just wants to suck her tasty blood, while also competing for her affections with Jacob Black (Taylor Lautner), who happens to be a werewolf. Think Dracula meets The Hills.
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Comments
Fans all over the world will
By: Mikee_L | Wed, 11/25/2009 - 23:07
Fans all over the world will be pleased coz the second installment of the Twilight series is finally out on November 20th, and there are already New Moon reviews out. The consensus among critics is that the film – you’ll have to pardon the pun – really BITES. (How am I not supposed to make that joke?) Rotten Tomatoes along some of the really big reviewers have decided that the novelty has worn off, and are giving the film a hiding. If you got payday loans for camping gear to wait days for tickets, it might have been a waste.
"Twilight" and Hot Topic
By: Ketone | Mon, 11/23/2009 - 09:44
An episode of South Park ("The Ungroundable") covered this very theme about a year ago.
Didn't know it was doing that badly...
By: nagatuki | Sun, 11/22/2009 - 17:40
I agree with the other poster, that the internet expanded choices for goths/ punks, and HT didn't keep up.
Of course, if I'm at the mall, it's still the one store I try to stop in - if only to see what's up musically, and style-wise among teens. Though I'm no longer buying most of their stuff (yeah, not great quality for most items), I do know that if I want a t-shirt with either a band or movie I like that I don't want to buy at the Disney store in pink, that's one of the places to be.
I will never understand people who say they're "afraid" of others with piercings or dyed hair - what's the matter with you? They're not aliens, they just have green hair - hardly something to fear, and ironically much more inclined to be nice to you, since I've found people who dress on the fringe are less judgmental than those shopping the Gap.
The Internet killed Hot Topic
By: Jackal_1013 | Fri, 11/20/2009 - 15:24
I'd like to posit that it was the rise of the Internet as a shopper's paradise, rather than a change in teen style, that forced Hot Topic to become what it is today--and that Twilight merch isn't "saving" it, so much as it's just what Hot Topic exists to sell now. See, back in the day (early 90's or so), Hot Topic really was the only place for goths and punks to shop--otherwise, it was thrift stores or DIY. But sometime in the 90's the look became very popular among the teen set, so lots of other chains began carrying dark-ish merchandise too. Suddenly Hot Topic was not only NOT the only game in town, but it was the pricey option and quality was bad to boot. In addition, goth styles themselves had changed (splitting into many different looks) and HT's offerings were limited. Once the term "mallgoth" was coined, meaning one who looked like they'd done ALL their shopping at HT (and yes we can tell the difference), HT was doomed. Goths and punks began abandoning HT and turning to the Internet for their shopping needs; the style never went away, it just stopped requiring a storefront. Deprived of their original demographic, HT began expanding their look to appeal to a broader range of teens--and filling the movie/music merchandise gap left by places like Tower Records that have since gone out of business. So I'm not sure that Twilight "saved" Hot Topic...just that Hot Topic has simply become the store that sells that sort of stuff. When the next movie trend comes along, it'll sell that stuff too, and Twilight will be forgotten.
I'd totally forgotten all
By: norahc | Fri, 11/20/2009 - 12:41
I'd totally forgotten all about Hot Topic until reading this article. I remember going through the Hot Topic phase too, and also being scared to death of the salespeople. I remember my sister also going through a Hot
Topic phase in her teens, but by then I was a freshman in college and wouldn't even stand outside of the store to wait for her I was so embarrassed that somebody might think I was shopping there. At 15 Hot Topic was cool and badass; at 18 it was lame and "childish".