When was hot topic made

Though Madden had to start small, with only one location, he had a good deal of pull within the industry, and after his first year as an independent entrepreneur he found no shortage of outside investors willing to aid him in making the company's growth a reality. The stores all followed a pattern similar to the company's flagship location: they were lit with low, 'Gothic'-style lighting, and carried inventory which shocked parents and delighted their kids.

All the sites were approximately 1, square feet in space, and, despite their indoor mall locations, were constructed to look like a mix between a night-club and a teenage fun house, with music played loud enough to match both environments.

To some in the industry Madden's company seemed a risky, perhaps flash-in-the-pan venture. What, after all, changes more quickly than the trends and tastes of punk or alternative teenagers?

Hot Topic's sales, however, proved naysayers wrong: by the middle of the s the company had opened dozens of locations, and all were pulling a profit. The key to Hot Topic's success, other than the obvious one of keeping up with music trends and styles, was the company's tremendous variety and scope of merchandise. No other apparel company which marketed itself to teens and young adults carried the amazing number of different logos, t-shirts, and novelty items carried by Hot Topic; and no company was as willing to so overtly appeal to a group which had traditionally defined itself through cultural alienation.

Logos and apparel inspired by such controversial bands as Marilyn Manson and Nine Inch Nails were actively promoted by the company; cosmetics of strange hues and even more eccentric names were prominently displayed next to jewelry meant to go anywhere but one's ear lobes; and, most important, the displays and inventory changed faster than almost any other national chain. Madden, in speaking of his store lay-out, said in an interview that 'Our target consumers are kids 12 to 22 years old.

We want those kids to be totally overwhelmed with our merchandise mix when they first walk in the door. To keep up with this ever-revolving, ever-shifting cache of merchandise, Madden bought a 45, square foot warehouse located in the City of Industry, California, where he headquartered his distribution space and his management team. There, the company employed dozens of buyers who were responsible for keeping up with music and teen fashion, and who aggressively canvassed merchants around the country.

As head of the company, Madden kept the atmosphere at company headquarters pointedly open and the hierarchy to a minimum.

The space was without cubicles; there was no dress code--indeed, piercings, baggy urbanwear, and varying hair colors were encouraged--and the entire area was covered with huge video screens which played the newest music videos throughout the day. The location was state-of-the-art in terms of technology, too, with a computer system tapped into every store's inventory, which was monitored and updated daily. Hot Topic's policy of openness was part of the company's success and contributed a good deal to its rapid growth.

Sales people were encouraged to take an active role in the development and introduction of new merchandising ideas for the company, and every buyer was required to respond personally to suggestions.

Madden even developed a policy whereby the company would pay for the ticket to any concert a salesperson desired to attend if the employee agreed to write up a 'fashion report' the following day. This was a direct and effective way of keeping up with the trends of teens and young adults in any region, and such a policy also allowed undiluted access to the tastes of the company's primary consumer market. In one case, a Hot Topic employee attended an all-night rave, and the next day he presented his company with an idea for creating special jeans pockets in which to store the popular see-in-the-dark glow sticks many ravers carried; within months the jeans had become a Hot Topic exclusive.

The company sponsored the Ozzfest concert tour, [19] the through Sounds of the Underground tour, [20] the Taste of Chaos tour, [21] and had a stage at and sponsored the and Rockstar Energy Drink Mayhem Festival tours. Malls and Retail Wiki Explore. Wiki Content. Explore Wikis Community Central. Register Don't have an account? Hot Topic. Edit source History Talk 0. Her eyes are closed and her head is turned up to the ceiling of the Queens Center mall, where, everything about her implies, she has been trapped for hours against her will.

She has the air of a saint who has suffered enough and is ready to return to Jesus. I remember this look from shopping trips with my mother. She has matt-black side-parted hair and rimless glasses. She brings her mother to by wafting a newly purchased My Chemical Romance T-shirt in front of her face. She does a wiggle of delight that is antithetical to everything I thought My Chemical Romance fans were about. Her mother seems elated by proxy, or perhaps by the prospect of finally leaving the mall.

I am happy, too, that this girl has found her joy at a mall in Elmhurst. And, like so many American teens, she found it at Hot Topic. Over the years, there have been rumors of bloodlettings held in Hot Topic stockrooms.

In , a religious group threw Bibles into a Hot Topic store in Indiana. Hot Topic was founded in in Southern California.

Madden and Levitt opened the first Hot Topic store in Montclair, California in late , and soon expanded into regional malls across California. Pretty quickly, she remembers, it became clear that one group of merchandise was speaking to customers louder than any other. Crucifixes, spiked leather cuffs, and jewelry involving dragons were flying off the racks, she says. She and Madden decided to pivot and turn Hot Topic into a destination for goth, punk, and emo kids.

They went on a research trip across the States to scope out alternative stores in big-city downtowns. Bringing studded chokers and Manic Panic hair dye into the local mall was a subversive move in , says Levitt.

Sometimes, also on Fridays, they are encouraged to catch up on pop culture during work hours. Recently, the office screened every episode of the TV series Riverdale back to back. Despite the fact that Hot Topic now has stores across the US, the company is still a fun, cool place to work, says Levitt.