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Hot topic is extremely expensive and a lot of things aren’t the quality it used to be like the 90’s-00s. Why is that? Is it really “out with the old in with the new”?
Hot topic was basically a dark cave in the mall. Where you can get alt things and beyond that to accessorize yourself and create the new you. So what’s changed?
I argue prices/affordability,quality and overall vibe is different. And so is their target audience. If you search new HT and compare it to the old HT,it will be vastly different. I believe this is the effect Covid left behind. Where people once starting to accept being “weird” has now been lost in time.
Even though fashion trends change weekly if not daily,they now ponder to the hottest topic (no pun intended) and now alt or mid/+ sized folk have started shopping at Spencer’s for their different styles and sizes. But what’s the difference between them?
I think affordability is a huge play and honestly sometimes the quality isn’t that bad for what you get. A playboy pillow likely costs less than 5 t-shirts at hot topic and a belt. T SHIRTS!!There is an array of popular items from Coraline to even KCFOS!! (Killer clowns from outer space) ! Even if you avoid the back of Spencer’s xd !whereas hot topic has mainly anime-kawaii styled themed things. (Their belts still kinda slap tho just not their prices for 1.)
While Spencer’s does cater to a more mature audience,they have items that several alt people would enjoy and may even have better deals than what hot topic gives.
What do you think? Do you think hot topic has lost its edge? Will this be a change in alternative fashion history? Have theories? All is welcomed for discussion.
Coming from someone who has random thoughts,
-Xoxo Galentine
Comments
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🌸 finn
honestly yeah, coming from a hot topic employee a lot of our stuff is targeted towards the felony martinez and olivia rodrigo stans. we do carry a lot of good band shirts and belts but nothing like truly "edgy" or like really alternative.. it feels like someone sanded down the rough corners to make it more appealing to the masses (see what happened with torrid..) i hope that spencers leans into the more emo part of their brand so i actually have somewhere to get my clothes without selling my limbs (even with the employee discount its so expensive....)
I heard abt what she did,gross
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by Galentine(blinged out chihuahua); ; Report
fawn
LITERALLY, the quality of everything has decreased while getting more expensive in both stores. i saw hottopic charging, like, 60 dollars for a denim skirt cause it had hello kitty printed on it. i dont even shop at these stores anymore but i do go into them for inspiration. then ill go home and make it myself for a quarter of the price.
SΛTURN
I agree w this so much. i literally spent about $150 (this was w a coupon code thing too) on 4 t-shirts like 8 months ago. i ended up having to get rid of 1-2 bc they were shitty after like 3-4 wears. also the print doesnt last long at all (but that could be from the way i washed them too)
r0tt3nst3w
I wholeheartedly agree, but I do notice that Spencer has better stuff than Hottopic. Maybe it's just me living in LA but the Spencers in my town has a lot of invader zim, gloomy bear, playboy, gus fink, and overall a lot of the classic y2k brands. Hottopic is basically BoxLunch 2.0 with all their Disney and merch.
marvel (auto play)
I agree,most of the stuff you’d find in the hot topic stores years ago are being sold on the website now though. They also have a bunch of sales and give out hot cash often which can help with the affordability. I guess we just have to wait until that type of clothing style becomes “mainstream” again since as the name suggests they sell things that are the hottest topics
jojo
i like spencers more then hot topic because it has more stuff. also, boxlunch is an ok store it's similar to hot topic.
Minecraft_Mangle
So I actually watched a video on this (https://youtu.be/aJxMhq58IvI?si=-dyDSHJKSOlAGljd i believe it was this one I saw it a year ago so forgive me if im wrong) and it basically was about how hot topic as always catered towards the hottest topics in scene/emo culture. Yeah it changed during covid because that's when it became a "trend" to be alt and now its in sort of a whirlpool due to today's audience being so different.
That being said: I do agree spencer's is better. I enjoy their earrings as they have the crazy vibe I go for, and compared to hot topic it's at a great price. I've also noticed Spencer's has tended to have more sales going on which also promotes business. I honestly only ever go to Hot Topic for their pins because they're easy to take without being noticed.
L0NELY
You’re actually so right about this, I’ve been thinking the exact same thing
Lexi
Hot Topic lost it's edge to me when it started selling Justin Bieber shit
C3mentary_L4dy
This is so funny to me, bc the mall i work at has a hot topic and a Spencers right next to each other
clover!🍉💜🧠🔱/🍭🥩
4+4 IS WHAT???????? also the nearest spencers to me is nearer than the nearest hot topic so thats one reason i prefer it
also they have icp shirts :D
by clover!🍉💜🧠🔱/🍭🥩; ; Report
Infecdedd:3
honestly spencers is hella better then hot topic the deals are so much better and I'm not losing all my money lmfao
Infecdedd:3
honestly spencers is hella better then hot topic the deals are so much better and I'm not losing all my money lmfao
parkR
this might not be everywhere, but at least at my mall ht and spencer's accessories and shirts are pretty much the same quality for the same price and they sometimes have the same stuff!! which is kinda funny since theyre right next to each other "^_^ there's deffo more cutesy/kawaii "trendy" things at hot topic tho, so spencer's has more of that alt vibe now!! ht has more tees for the emo bands i like, while i dont really ever see any at spencers. theyre def pretty similar stores even with the differences they do have between them!!
autismz :3
i always thought they were kinda the same only spencers i feel like has more variety
s0r1xxx
no this is so true especially with what they sell because i got a carbon copy of a jacket my mom got back in the day from hot topic that our dog tore up from spencers the other day and i have never been so pumped
z0mbiie
i have both a hot topic and spencers in my mall and dare i say they unfortunately are kind of similar. they have a few things that the other doesnt, but ultimately theyve both gone down similar paths which absolutely sucks esp because they were the only major alternative stores. while people in big cities like LA or new york have their local goth/alternate stores, people in small towns (the majority of the alternative culture imo) have practically nowhere to get stuff if not online.
i pray that perhaps one day we will get a hot topic and/or spencers revival, or a whole new major nationwide alt store. for now we must struggle as the dying population of alt. :,))
Angry Opossum
I kind of disagree. For the most part, Hot Topic isn't the only company to drop in quality. Most companies, not even just clothing retailers, have dropped significantly in quality while increasing in price. It is a trend in the majority of places, even restaurants and home appliance stores have dropped in quality but increased their prices drastically.
Even Spencer's themselves have dropped in quality. For example, Spencer's owns the famous pop-up Halloween store Spirit Halloween. I can confirm that the quality in both stores has dropped just as much as in Hot Topic. I also disagree that Spencer's is to be considered the "new" Hot Topic because they advertise to different age groups. Although Spencer's does sell items that might have been found in older HT, it mostly sells items that you would have never found being sold at Hot Topic, just as older Hot Topic used to sell items from clothing brands that Spencer's has not and still doesn't sell.
For example, HT used to sell items from Demonia, Tripp NYC, Emily is Strange, Lip Service, etc. Items that most likely weren't sold at Spencer's. It isn't like these clothing stores no longer exist, for the most part, they do. However, this was during a time when bands in the alternative scenes were gaining in popularity among the youth, which is what Hot Topic caters to. In the modern era, most of the youth, as much as we would like to deny it, are not as much in the scene or just not into the fashion. So Ht being... well.. HT, they decided to start catering to the current Hot Topic, hence the name, to continue making money from the new youth.
However, that doesn't mean I do not think some stores will be able to replicate Hot Topic. There definitely are stores that replicate old Hot Topic, they just aren't as popular as the retail chain. You can find many of them online. They are typically a lot smaller, most barely have more than 1 store. It really just boils down to, not many people being into alt fashion. This is due to many... many reasons.
goldie ♡
Love Spencers but I know I can't go in there at a mall
angora
My local mall doesn't have a Hot Topic, the closest one to me being ~40 mins away, so I didn't shop there much. I do remember the shift from emo to Disney and thinking it was weird.
Spencer's has always had very cute shirts and accessories. I *personally* don't want to support Playboy or Hooters, which is kind of the "branding" they're going for right now, so I don't shop there as much as I used to considering its kind of everywhere, at least at my mall (it's a tiny store). Love their graphic tees and I'll always buy jewelry there, I just wish my fat ass could fit into their crop tops LMFAO
Are they replacing Hot Topic? I actually don't think so. Hot Topic has a kind of relevance I do not see dying out -- Spencer's provides some competition, always has, but not enough in their current state. I default to "sex toys, gag gifts" when I think about Spencer's, and I think most other people do too. I could be wrong ofc