Alyce Lomax of The Motley Fool says that "It's clear that Hot Topic's got problems of its own right now." The company is expecting a loss of 2-3 cents per share and sales are not what they used to be. Today, Hot Topic's stock (HOTT) took a nosedive - down 17%.
A company that targets "Goth" teens, Hot Topic seems to have lost touch with its customer. One, the company hasn't done any marketing 
that I know of. Two, goth, punk what? Although I haven't been into either of these styles, I haven't seen too many teens (or anybody for that matter) in my area of San Diego dressed in goth or punk lately. Even though the skull look is supposed to be "in", people in Southern Cal - minus celebrities in L.A. - are slow to adopt this style.
However, I will give the company props for using a model that represents the real average size of girls out there!
Hot Topic can be a bit scary -- and loud (I guess I'm so old!) -- but they also have those cartoon tees, so they're also for the young at heart.
I feel good that these styles aren't in right now, but bad for the company.
I used to see goth teens everywhere a few months ago, I guess I haven't seen it lately, either! I'll have to watch out closer.
Posted by: Designer Ella | August 1, 2006 8:57 PM | Permalink to Comment