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Hot Topic history
Hot Topic company history timeline
Hot Topic was founded by Orv Madden in 1989, after the executive became aware of the marketing opportunities which had been created by MTV and other popular forms of alternative youth culture.
Today, Hot Topic is huge, but the company started small — in a garage in Southern California in 1989.
1990: Hot Topic begins to expand.
1995-97: The Explosive Growth of Hot Topic
After going public in the autumn of 1996, Hot Topic's stock had by May of the following year skyrocketed in value, trading at almost double its initial price.
By 1996 Hot Topic had sales of over $44 million and had opened almost 80 locations nationwide.
The retailer went public in 1996 and expanded rapidly for many years.
However, despite the company's drastic increase in sales and steady expansion, it suffered a slight set back on the market during the summer of 1997.
In a 1997 interview with Chain Store Age, the financial analyst Lauren Cooks Levitan said of Hot Topic that the company 'has won the hearts of its customers by listening to them.
1997: The company introduces its own label.
In early 2000, Madden began making plans for a successor.
By 2001 McLaughlin was named CEO, and Madden, at the age of 52, retired from Hot Topic.
Perhaps the most substantial change for 2001 was the opening of the first Torrid store, a Hot Topic spinoff with a similar inventory but a slightly different customer base: Torrid caters to plus-size customers, carrying apparel in sizes 12 to 26.
Teen fashion trends were undergoing a subtle shift, however, and by mid-2004, Hot Topic had begun to stumble after many years of sterling sales figures.
Blum, Ronald, “Hot Topic Shares Plunge on Lowered Profit Outlook,” America’s Intelligence Wire, January 4, 2007.
Beginning in 2007, Hot Topic began another major remodel, retaining industrial-style elements like concrete and steel while also incorporating more neutral colors and brighter lighting.
As of early 2007, sales figures were still rising, though far more slowly than in the past, and same-store numbers had dropped for several years in a row.
The company has not publicly disclosed its finances since it was bought by private equity firm Sycamore Partners in 2013 for around $600 million, The New York Times reported.
"Hot Topic Inc. ." International Directory of Company Histories. . Retrieved June 21, 2022 from Encyclopedia.com: https://www.encyclopedia.com/books/politics-and-business-magazines/hot-topic-inc
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Hot Topic competitors
Company Name  | Founded Date | Revenue | Employee Size | Job Openings |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Torrid | 2001 | $1.3B | 8,100 | 769 |
| SHOE SHOW | 1960 | $6.2B | 140 | 1 |
| MovieStop | 2004 | $800,000 | 50 | - |
| Vitamin Shoppe | 1977 | $1.1B | 4,022 | 391 |
| Plato's Closet | 1998 | $1.3M | 25 | 41 |
| francesca's | 1999 | $407.5M | 7,500 | 1,306 |
| Lane Bryant | 1915 | $1.4M | 25 | 13 |
| Five Below | 2002 | $3.1B | 14,001 | 3,241 |
| Tuesday Morning | 1974 | $749.8M | 1,607 | - |
| Entertainment Earth | 1996 | $11.0M | 10 | - |
Hot Topic history FAQs
Zippia gives an in-depth look into the details of Hot Topic, including salaries, political affiliations, employee data, and more, in order to inform job seekers about Hot Topic. The employee data is based on information from people who have self-reported their past or current employments at Hot Topic. The data on this page is also based on data sources collected from public and open data sources on the Internet and other locations, as well as proprietary data we licensed from other companies. Sources of data may include, but are not limited to, the BLS, company filings, estimates based on those filings, H1B filings, and other public and private datasets. While we have made attempts to ensure that the information displayed are correct, Zippia is not responsible for any errors or omissions or for the results obtained from the use of this information. None of the information on this page has been provided or approved by Hot Topic. The data presented on this page does not represent the view of Hot Topic and its employees or that of Zippia.
Hot Topic may also be known as or be related to Hot Topic, Hot Topic Inc, Hot Topic Inc. and Hot Topic, Inc.