Do you shop at HotTopic?

Contributor: .kaycat .kaycat
(The store) has changed so much over the years. Am I the only one that misses the bands? Now it's one direction shirts, Justin Bieber and its really mainstream I kind of hate it.
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Answers (public voting - your screen name will appear in the results):
I disagree
Gone (LD29)
1
I agree
purpleflower1972 , GONE! , ViVix , Beautiful-Disaster , Llewey , ChaiMocha , lovelyzombie , Gone (LD29) , bratcat , Hentialover , Intrepid Niddering , K101 , cowboywill87 , JinxPinx , GirlOnGirl , requiem dreams , Hallmar82 , new nick , BlackCherry , PropertyOfPotter , sweetpea12 , KinkyKatieJames , libbyv , quackbuster , tweetybird0963t , twelve13 , sweisb4100
27
I've never shopped there
married with children , eri86 , Mr. E , mpfm , snowminx , Trysexual , SecretKinksters , Real or memorex , U3H , edeneve
10
Total votes: 38 (37 voters)
Poll is closed
05/09/2013
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Contributor: Rossie Rossie
Really? No more metal bands T-shirts? Haven't been in their stores for over a year, but I still see those available on their website though.
05/09/2013
Contributor: ViVix ViVix
Quote:
Originally posted by .kaycat
(The store) has changed so much over the years. Am I the only one that misses the bands? Now it's one direction shirts, Justin Bieber and its really mainstream I kind of hate it.
I went back when it still scared my grandma. Ha!
05/09/2013
Contributor: Beautiful-Disaster Beautiful-Disaster
I used to get some clothes there as a teenager.. But even then.. I didn't really like their clothes..With cartoon stuff.. & animal things.. like.. cutsey things. I dont know.. maybe that's just me..
05/09/2013
Contributor: Llewey Llewey
I stopped going there about the time their music section of ACTUAL MUSIC (not shirts!) was relegated to a sad, half-of-a-one-sided-sh elf disgrace. It's all just bandwagoning now; cynical marketing to cash in on teenagers who ironically want to simultaneously feel "different" while being part of the "cool crowd." All it does is latch onto lame Internet fads now... Maybe they were always like that, and I was just too young to notice?
05/09/2013
Contributor: married with children married with children
I have never shopped for anything there.
05/09/2013
Contributor: ShadowedSeductress ShadowedSeductress
Quote:
Originally posted by Beautiful-Disaster
I used to get some clothes there as a teenager.. But even then.. I didn't really like their clothes..With cartoon stuff.. & animal things.. like.. cutsey things. I dont know.. maybe that's just me..
I agree, I have to say there are still metal band shirts in store though. As a business they're doing what will sell and that's that.

Even 5 years ago when I was 15 and actually shopped there, they had all the lame animal/bows/cutesy crap. Yes there's less "metal" but it's only to appeal to a wider market.
05/09/2013
Contributor: Sammi Sammi
I would have killed for a store like that when I was in high school. They have changed a lot - we only go maybe twice a year, and the stuff certainly seems less edgy than it did.
05/09/2013
Contributor: lovelyzombie lovelyzombie
i dont even buy anything there anymore its changed so much
05/09/2013
Contributor: Gone (LD29) Gone (LD29)
I both agree and disagree. I do see a lot of mainstream trendy junk that annoys me there, but I still find things I like and want there too.
05/09/2013
Contributor: bratcat bratcat
I'm kind of on the fence with this one, however i lean more toward agreeing with you. When i was in middle school there we're only two stores i could buy "gothic" or "alternative" styled clothing, Hottopic and a family owned business with two locations [which i cant remember the name of]. The latter was my favorite as they had really rad stuff you couldnt mind anywhere else, including handcrafted jewelry and band shirts. However if i wanted to travel to hottopic i have to get my mom to drive me to a mall almost an hour away. It wasn't until the demand for that type of clothing became more mainstream that the local mall got it's own hottopic. It was then i started to really started to see how this is a company, and while "all about the music," still had to offer things which we're considered the norm, and adapted over time to more and more current treands - like many companies to do.
Now that i'm older and much more involved in my local music scene, i have no need to go anywhere but the show itself to support the band. Which is the things people should really be doing instead of going through major companies that exploit bands and their merch only giving them a small precent of sales.
I'm glad i had a store like this around when i was younger, but i dont care to even step foot in that store now.
05/10/2013
Contributor: Hentialover Hentialover
Quote:
Originally posted by .kaycat
(The store) has changed so much over the years. Am I the only one that misses the bands? Now it's one direction shirts, Justin Bieber and its really mainstream I kind of hate it.
I use to shop online at Hot Topic back when I was 20-22, but then they started changing their styles, and all though that's how it is, I wasn't found of the new styles. So, I stopped shopping there, haven't gone back in years.
05/10/2013
Contributor: bog bog
Quote:
Originally posted by .kaycat
(The store) has changed so much over the years. Am I the only one that misses the bands? Now it's one direction shirts, Justin Bieber and its really mainstream I kind of hate it.
I haven't been in one in ten years. I didn't know they changed!
05/10/2013
Contributor: Intrepid Niddering Intrepid Niddering
Hot Topic's "sister store" Torrid also did a complete 180. It was formed as a plus-size Hot Topic, basically. Soon after I found out about the store, they quickly turned it into some hip, trendy clothing store. It's disappointing.
05/10/2013
Contributor: bratcat bratcat
Quote:
Originally posted by Intrepid Niddering
Hot Topic's "sister store" Torrid also did a complete 180. It was formed as a plus-size Hot Topic, basically. Soon after I found out about the store, they quickly turned it into some hip, trendy clothing store. It's disappointing.
im actually really happy about torrid's change. There are not a lot of places that sell "trendy" plus size clothing that is comparable to something like forever21's plus line. They do still sell bondage jeans and other things like such, online and sometimes in store, but like any store they have to appeal to their audience and the demand for trendier stuff is what people wanted.
05/10/2013
Contributor: K101 K101
Quote:
Originally posted by .kaycat
(The store) has changed so much over the years. Am I the only one that misses the bands? Now it's one direction shirts, Justin Bieber and its really mainstream I kind of hate it.
I have said the same thing! Lol. It's annoying because Hot Topic has prided themselves (or they did back then) on being a "rock" merchandise store. I still shop there a lot because if I dig, I often find some really great shirts. One of my most unique and favorite Nirvana shirts came from there & finally, one for females! Also, I like that they have great sales sometimes. I used to get my body jewelry there until I got tired of wasting so much $ on the stuff when it often falls apart, that's just how belly button rings do. So I buy from a much cheaper place now, although I still get some of it from Hot Topic if I see something unique and cute enough.

I do love some of their lingerie and dresses as well, though, but I completely agree, I'd be jumping for joy if they would replace those damn Justin Beiber and Nicki Minaj and Lady Gaga shirts with bands like 3DG or Three Doors Down, more Nirvana would be awesome, Metallica, etc. I mean, there are plenty of stores where you can find pop bands. It's hard to find rock band merchandise, so why take up space with that kind of music? But I am biased, so what can I say?

Yep. I'm with you, though. I miss the good old bands. You hardly ever see variety of Sublime anymore. They used to have a kick ass selection.

And what is with the damn child cartoon crap?! WTF? An entire wall is dedicated to freaking ponies and rainbows and cartoon crap. Seriously!? Bring back something a little more hardcore. We can get ponies and little cartoon shirts at Wal-Mart... or Babies R' Us! Lol.
05/10/2013
Contributor: sunflower sunflower
They have cute Star Wars and Doctor Who stuff but they mostly tacky shit that would appeal to loser scene kids in 2009. Some of their band shirts used to be nice.
05/10/2013
Contributor: eri86 eri86
I've never shopped there. It didn't appeal to me then, and it doesn't appeal to me now.
05/10/2013
Contributor: JinxPinx JinxPinx
I rarely go there but I'll usually still spot a few cool things. I like that they atleast still have stuff that you don't really see elsewhere, like anime or adult swim gear.
05/10/2013
Contributor: GirlOnGirl GirlOnGirl
I haven't been there in a few years so I wasn't aware of the changes.
05/10/2013
Contributor: requiem dreams requiem dreams
I dont really shop there anymore since they changed
05/10/2013
Contributor: butts butts
I did when I was a teen, I still have a few shirts from them (non-band shirts). Even then I didn't particularly like the store, they just carried some anime stuff that wasn't available other places. Now it's just a damn joke, it's full of nasty bad quality piercing jewelry, crummy hair dye and a menagerie of shit-quality accessories with outdated memes all over them. The only thing I ever consider buying there is men's pants that actually FIT well.
05/10/2013
Contributor: Zombirella Zombirella
I like to get TV show/movie themed shirts from there, though lately I find things cheaper and sometimes better on eBay.
05/10/2013
Contributor: Hallmar82 Hallmar82
I understand they want to expand their market but they lost me as a shopper too.
05/10/2013
Contributor: quinceykay quinceykay
I used to go when I was younger, but no, it's really gone downhill.
05/10/2013
Contributor: BlackCherry BlackCherry
Yeah, I recently went into one of the stores for the nostalgia factor, but I was pretty disappointed to see the changes.
05/10/2013
Contributor: PropertyOfPotter PropertyOfPotter
I used to like shopping there, but I haven't been in years. The last time I went in I was less than impressed with the selection, but that was a long time ago.
05/10/2013
Contributor: Sera26 Sera26
It's definitely not the same but then again there weren't any Hot Topics in our area when I was young (not that I could really afford it then anyway). We occasionally visited one at a mall about an hour away.

We have one at our local mall now. I did love the got stuff and have had "cutesy" phases. All in all I still find stuff there occasionally.
05/10/2013
Contributor: Kitka Kitka
I noticed it hasn't been the same the last few times I went there but I do like scope out new dresses and possible plugs/tunnels for my gauged ears.
05/10/2013
Contributor: 1001 Pleasures 1001 Pleasures
I've walked past this store, but never had the desire to stop inside.
05/10/2013