Arts

The Store That "Twilight" Saved

The revival of Hot Topic.

  • Posted: Friday, November 20, 2009 8:27am
  • By Ylan Q. Mui

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.

Tags: Bella Swan, Edward Cullen, Hot Topic, Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson, twilight

Ylan Q. Mui is a financial reporter at the Washington Post covering retail and consumerism.

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