The clearance rack looks very different these days.
The last time I stepped inside a Hot Topic was in 2003. I was 12 years old, mad at the world, and about to enter the seventh grade. I was listening to edgier bands like Simple Plan, Green Day, and My Chemical Romance. I was performatively bored of my Radio Disney CDs and desired a more ‘alternative’ closet. There was only one place to go for an aspiring emo kid like me: Hot Topic.
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My dad was in the store with me, which felt uncool, but he did buy everything for me, which was really sweet. I bought a few band tees, studded accessories, and black eyeliner, and I was given a loyalty stamp card for spending over $100, which really embarrassed me as a preteen.
Now that I’m in my 30s, I thought it’d be fun to check out the Hot Topic on Hollywood Boulevard and see how much it took me back to my angst-filled adolescence.
Pernell Quilon
The description of the store was enough to tickle my curiosity:
“Walk into our store and the first thing you’ll feel is energy. Energy from the music, energy from the merchandise, energy from the people. All of this is what makes Hot Topic different.” Instantly obsessed.
And no, this post isn’t sponsored by Hot Topic. This is just me pursuing hard-hitting journalism on behalf of millennials. I’m also coming off the high of re-listening to my 2007 iPod Nano.
As soon as I walked in, the first thing I saw was a bunch of pink Hello Kitty merchandise. Since I associated Hot Topic with only black and other dark colors, I was caught off guard. I felt immediately welcomed in the store, which is not at all how I remembered the store.
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Perhaps it’s just because I was a kid back then, but I remember the atmosphere of Hot Topic being…intense. You felt that energy even before you walked into the store. It was so strong that I feel like my grandmother would have sprayed holy water on me if she had ever walked into the store with me. I remembered being 12 and feeling like the sales associate knew I was a poser that didn’t belong in there, and that I was kind of a loser for having my dad with me (essentially an emo Abercrombie & Fitch). It made me want to be in there.
Now that I felt like they wanted me in there, I wasn’t sure if I even wanted to be in there. Yes, I am in therapy.
After my initial surprise wore off, I remembered that I actually do love pink. I even spotted two items, a button-up and a pencil pouch, that I’d buy if I didn’t have to worry about rent.
There were actually two whole walls of mostly pink clothes!
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I’m obsessed with the Bratz shirt, though I wouldn’t have guessed that’d ever be on sale in a Hot Topic 20 years ago. However, that misanthropic “Ew, People” shirt is incredibly on brand.
It was actually nice to see a lot more color in a Hot Topic, while still staying true to the eclectic vibe of the brand.
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Eye spy with my little eye a cute leather pink choker. Now that I think about it, I think Hot Topic’s leather chokers and harnesses were a gateway to many people’s leather fetishes.
And can we just stop to adore this cute cow-print bucket hat?
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Why be emo when can you be e-moo?
It was also interesting to see how much more anime merchandise there was in the store. It wasn’t just Naruto and Inuyasha anymore — there was gear from Demon Slayer, Hunter Hunter, and My Hero Academia.
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Even back in the late 2000s, the kids that shopped at Hot Topic were also watching shows like Naruto and YuYu Hakusho, but there wasn’t as big of a selection as there is today.
There was even a whole sock section dedicated to anime. I thought this was really cool, because back in the 2000s, anime was still considered a “niche” interest. I love that it’s so popular now, and that even stores like Hot Topic understand how much buying power there is in anime.
Of course, the store even had cute anime plushies!
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I have no idea what series this character is from. But we’re both Asian, and that’s good enough for me.
Eventually, I found what I was looking for. Tucked in the back of the store, across from the clearance aisle, were the emo band tees that first drew me to Hot Topic. Staple bands like Green Day, My Chemical Romance, and the Gorillaz were on the wall. It was cool to see that some things never change, even if it was a much smaller collection than I remember my generation’s Hot Topic having.
However, I was stoked to see that they still carried this Green Day shirt for their album American Idiot, truly one of the most iconic albums ever made in the new millennia. If you’re a Gen X’er, you probably know this album as the CD that came out 10 years after Dookie.
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And yes, Green Day did blast through the store speakers at least once while I was browsing through the store. Nature is healing.
To the left of the emo band tees was the store’s equally small collection of heavy metal and screamo band tees, like Five Finger Death Punch and Black Veil Brides. I was never really into screamo music — the most ‘screamo’ I ever got was “My Heart” by Paramore off their All We Know Is Falling album — but I learned from others that it was an integral part of the ’emo kid’ lifestyle, and absolutely Hot Topic canon. So, it was kind of sad to see a once-prominent part of the store diluted to a corner collection. Things really do change.
Pernell Quilon
The names alone exude energy, which again, is the first thing you feel when you step into a Hot Topic.
There was, however, no shortage of shirts for classic rock bands, like the Beatles, KISS, AC/DC, and Black Sabbath. There were at least 56 options to be exact! That’s something I do remember about Hot Topic from back then.
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I remember buying a Rolling Stones T-shirt and proudly wearing it around school, even though I had exactly two songs of theirs on my iPod Nano. It’s a teenage rite of passage to buy shirts of bands you know you should like, and I was happy to know that the tradition is alive and well.
And no Hot Topic trip back in the 2000s was complete without perusing through the random and really funny graphic tees that they carry. Fortunately, this tradition continues, and this location didn’t disappoint with their collection!
If you’re still into snarky shirts as an adult, then you’ll still feel at home in Hot Topic with shirts like these:
A lot of the stuff they carried in the store was witty and timely, though would likely still be fun to wear even in the far future. I mean, how twisted is this Scream shirt? I’d totally wear this when I’m 60 years old while I’m doing tai chi before the sun rises at my local park.
Or even this other Scream shirt, which looks really cute paired with a plaid skirt and a punk-rock belt.
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The boys wouldn’t have a chance if you strolled around town in this, I fear. It’s the perfect mix of “smile so I know you think I look hot” and “don’t ask me to take out my headphones.”
They also still carried Buffy the Vampire Slayer merch — well, just this one shirt. But that was a blast to the past because I remember them carrying this same shirt, or one just like it, the last time I stepped into Hot Topic almost 20 years ago.
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Sometimes I would walk around my middle school with my backpack slung over my left shoulder and pretend that I had a secret — I was a slayer. I was actually just gay.
Here’s something that was shockingly different though: the amount of shroom merchandise in the store. The most “edgy” thing related to drugs you used to be able to find in the store was weed-related merch. Well, there was none of that. I guess it’s a lot more mainstream now. Now it seems like they’ve moved onto the next “edgy” drug: psilocybin.
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“Let your mind wander to the stars.” Interesting.
I don’t know who is on the board of Hot Topic corporate, but I’m assuming that someone up in the ranks has dabbled in psychedelics and is committed to spreading the spore gospel. Here’s a pair of crystal necklaces featuring shrooms.
There was also this undeniably adorable T-shirt featuring three cute — you guessed it — mushrooms.
I also found this psilocybin-themed charm bracelet, featuring four colors of fungi. At this point, the commercialization of psychedelics was feeling grossly corporate.
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The presence of mushrooms throughout the store was pretty consistent, and not at all spore-adic.
And the shroom-merchandise didn’t stop there. Check out this goth-friendly shirt proudly featuring two mushrooms.
And you’ll be happy to know that questionable “testers” (in this case: a mushroom-themed eyeshadow palette that you can dab your fingers right into) are still Hot Topic canon.
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I really do not know why there was so much shroom-themed stuff in the store, but I’m not mad at it. I believe in enlightenment for everyone.
Moving on from Hot Topic’s new fascination with shrooms, their current Schedule I drug of choice, there was a good selection of pins and piercings in the store as well.
And if LSD is more your thing or you’re just not into the shroom movement in general, there were also great selections of non-drug-affiliated friendship bracelets, necklaces, and charms that you could buy for your bestie.
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Friends that shop at Hot Topic together, spend money at Hot Topic together.
There are even friendship items that are in line with the misanthropic spirit of Hot Topic we all first loved the store for, like this cute two-pack of friendship bracelets that say “I Hate You” and “I Hate You More.”
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It’s comforting to know that the angsty roots of Hot Topic are alive and well.
There was also a lot of pop star merchandise, which I’m not mad at! There were quite a few Ariana Grande shirts on the rack, and I really loved this particular Britney Spears hoodie. It was nice to see pop icons in the store because back in 2003, I felt like I had to keep my liking for pop music a secret if I wanted to keep my Hot Topic loyalty stamp card.
I was also very pleased to see this Nicki Minaj T-shirt. It was nice to see that Gen Z’s Hot Topic is more inclusive toward a variety of tastes.
And I wasn’t at all surprised to see this signature Billie Eilish beanie.
Another huge change that was refreshing to see was that there was more merch available from rap and hip-hop artists, a genre I don’t remember being well represented in the heyday of Hot Topic past. It’s comical though that over a fourth of these shirts are of Machine Gun Kelly. Sure, he made rap music. But should he be on the same wall with Tupac…four times?
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There’s still a lot of room for improvement here. It’s nice to see Tupac and Juice Wrld in the store, but that’s barely scratching the surface of the rap game. I feel like Hot Topic underestimates how many emo kids are also into hip-hop.
I mean, Hot Topic is known for selling stuff from legendary artists, so it’d be great to see more hip-hop artists prominently displayed besides Notorious B.I.G. and Aaliyah.
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Rest in peace to these two legends, who absolutely belong in everyone’s Spotify library.
Another new change in Hot Topic’s inventory is that there was a lot more Disney merchandise on sale, too.
Along with the new Disney inventory was a cool selection of Marvel gear. In general, it seems like Hot Topic is a lot more family-friendly — there’s something for everyone now, not just your moody teenager. Like I said earlier, everyone’s welcome in the store now. Like K-Mart.
My favorite thing from the Marvel section was this “I Love You 3000” hoodie.
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This is arguably one of the best lines out of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. It’s up there with WandaVision‘s “What is grief, if not love persevering?”
I also thought this Loki keychain was pretty snazzy. Who wouldn’t want to rep a bisexual demi-god?
There was also a Star Wars section in the store. Since it’s technically also part of Disney, it’s pretty interesting how much the Disney material is carried in Hot Topic. That was simply not the case with the Hot Topic I stepped in over a decade ago.
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The grip that Baby Yoda has on us is totally iconic.
I will say, I was a little disappointed though that there wasn’t a larger selection of eyeliner, nail polish, and hair dye. When I was experimenting with eyeliner as a preteen, I remember Hot Topic was the one place where I could seek out these things and not be judged for it. Today, it’s more common for young people, regardless of gender, to go into a Sephora or Ulta Beauty. So, it makes sense that Hot Topic has downsized on this type of inventory — we’ve outgrown the need.
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They had two options of hair dye and exactly one brand of black nail polish and eyeliner.
I got the impression that Hot Topic is now more open to carrying things that are popular in the zeitgeist — shirts from Squid Game, Cobra Kai, Peppa the Pig, and even Shrek (the best movie of all time) were there.
There was even some BTS merch in the store, which would have never been sold in Hot Topic stores back then. I’m glad that’s changed!
There was even a section of Riverdale merchandise — though this was also the clearance section, so I don’t know what that says about the state of the show. I do not watch.
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I’m fully aware that I am missing out on the triumphs and defeats, the epic highs and lows, of high school football.
Although there was no Invader Zim merchandise to be found, it was cool to see that Hot Topic has no shortage of their classic studded belts.
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The sales associate, who was in all black and wearing eyeliner (an eternal serve), informed me that anytime they stock up Invader Zim merch, it quickly sells out.
Also featured here are the only posters in the store. Sadly, they do not sell rolled-up posters in Hot Topic anymore.
And yes, they still had their classic checkered pants in stock.
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These pants were my favorite things as a former scene kid. Just holding them made we want to change my Top 8 on MySpace.
They also still have their fishnet sleeves, a gothic staple.
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Let’s take a moment to admire this incredible hand model. She really ate with that pose.
And I was happy to see that they still carried a wide selection of cute high-socks. Some things will never go out of style!
Apparently there’s a snack selection now too. It features the three key Emo Food Groups: Pocky sticks, Nerds ropes, and Bob Ross Energy Drinks.
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Honestly surprised there was no instant ramen in the store, you know, to play on the now-defunct, but forever iconic, Fueled by Ramen record label.
And lots of cute plushies!
It was pretty clear from my visit that Hot Topic knows that millennials still come through to their shop. They had a good selection of Harry Potter merchandise.
And even a cute Lisa Frank-themed gift card!
I’d even argue that the abundance of My Chemical Romance merchandise is because they know we are just still playing their old songs on Spotify.
Pernell Quilon
Because you know what — “I’m Not Okay.” The world is on fire, and I do not own this blanket. I deserve it. Even the cold-hearted get chilly, sometimes.
And finally, the best thing that I saw in Hot Topic was that there was still Nightmare Before Christmas merchandise! This will always be a Hot Topic classic, and it made me so happy to see Jack Skellington thriving, even during a pandemic.
Overall, there’s a lot more color and options in Hot Topic nowadays besides your classic black My Chemical Romance tees. It’s a great mixture of what you would expect out of a Hot Topic, along with other popular interests. If you’re a millennial like me, it probably won’t be as “cool” as you remember it. But then again, we’re not teenagers anymore.
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Just like how I’ve changed, Hot Topic has, too. And it will continue to do that for all generations that come after us, until this world is too hot for Hot Topic (because of global warming).
I can only wonder what my kids’ version of Hot Topic will look like and what kind of stuff they’ll carry then. Maybe a MDMA-influenced Hello Kitty x My Chemical Romance glove and sock collection? Who knows!
There’s so much more to see at Hot Topic, so if there’s one near you, I recommend checking it out for old times’ sake! Take your kids. Or even your great-grandmother. There really is something for everyone.
Pernell Quilon
I didn’t get a loyalty card this time, but that’s only because my dad wasn’t with me to buy a whole bunch of stuff. I did leave with some black nail polish though!
What do you remember most about Hot Topic? What other stores have you not stepped into in years and wonder about now that you’re an adult? Let me know in the comments!
Source: https://www.buzzfeed.com/pernellquilon/hot-topic-2000s-vs-now
