In Defense of Emo Kids
Chances are if you've walked through just about any mall, you've seen a Hot Topic somewhere. Most of the time blasting extremely loud screamo music and populated by several people with piercings, tattoos, and bad tastes in music. It's where the kids who "no one understands" go to buy their black and white striped shirts and skinny jeans. Most of the time, when Hot Topic is mentioned by anyone on the internet, it is closely followed by jokes an insults. Apparently everyone who shops at a Hot Topic is a loser or a poser, if you listen to the internet. Well, I'm here to defend the losers and posers who shop there as well as the shop itself.
Hot Topic is a store. From what I can tell, it's only found in malls and it's not a standalone store. This probably makes sense, because they really don't have enough stuff to sell to make it as a standalone store. It seems like they wanted to make a store for people who enjoy metal music but ran out of shirts and just started adding other things like nose rings and ladies' underwear. It is almost never crowded and has a specific odor. Cast these things aside, though, and you've got yourself a pretty good store.
Almost every time I've gone into a Hot Topic, the scary looking guy behind the counter with way too many piercings smiles and asks if he can help me. The strange thing is if I actually need help, he can answer my questions. This is much more than what I can say for other stores where the people working there look like they would rather be dead or are more likely actually dead. Once, I came to the store wanting a certain Dethklok shirt. I looked through the little pile of clothes they have on a rack and they had none in medium. Since they almost always have shirts in the backroom, I asked if he could check. He said he didn't have any in medium in the back, so I was expecting him to tell me "Tough luck" and move on so he could choose the next Bullet for my Valentine song he can play at insanely high volumes. Instead, he did the unthinkable. He went over to the display shirt and checked the size and sure enough, it was medium. So he let me have the display shirt. This may not sound like much, but rarely have I been to a store where they will take down the display to let someone have. This is an example of excellent customer service, even if it is very small.
That's not all, though. I mean, every store has good ones and bad ones, right? That's what I though. I've been to several different Hot Topics throughout the Southeast (which is where I live, unfortunately) and every single one has had a person at the desk who greeted me and helped me get what I needed. It's little things like that to keep a business strong and even though the employees look like they want to break your neck and drink your blood, they've all been extremely polite and helpful. If I buy nearly anything at their store, the guy working there will almost always start up a conversation about what I'm buying. I once bought a Watchmen shirt from them and the guy started up a conversation about how he loved the graphic novel and was excited about the movie. I once bought a Flight of the Conchords CD from them and the guy told me about how hilarious their songs are. These are all from different Hot Topics.
Another thing that I like about Hot Topic is their online store. They have some things on their online store that aren't for sale in the shops themselves, and the shops have things the online store doesn't. What I've noticed about Hot Topic's online store, though, is how fast they are. I've bought two shirts from their online store and in each instance, they've had the shirts at my house in two days. I ordered one on a Thursday, it showed up on a Saturday. They both were in great condition.
Now, I know that they sell useless stuff and that their main demographic is emo kids with no sense of originality, but when it comes to customer service, Hot Topic is number one in my book. For discussion purposes, I'd like your opinions of Hot Topic as a store and any good or bad experiences you've had with them. Apologies for wall of text and yes I stole the format from the news room.
Chances are if you've walked through just about any mall, you've seen a Hot Topic somewhere. Most of the time blasting extremely loud screamo music and populated by several people with piercings, tattoos, and bad tastes in music. It's where the kids who "no one understands" go to buy their black and white striped shirts and skinny jeans. Most of the time, when Hot Topic is mentioned by anyone on the internet, it is closely followed by jokes an insults. Apparently everyone who shops at a Hot Topic is a loser or a poser, if you listen to the internet. Well, I'm here to defend the losers and posers who shop there as well as the shop itself.
Hot Topic is a store. From what I can tell, it's only found in malls and it's not a standalone store. This probably makes sense, because they really don't have enough stuff to sell to make it as a standalone store. It seems like they wanted to make a store for people who enjoy metal music but ran out of shirts and just started adding other things like nose rings and ladies' underwear. It is almost never crowded and has a specific odor. Cast these things aside, though, and you've got yourself a pretty good store.
Almost every time I've gone into a Hot Topic, the scary looking guy behind the counter with way too many piercings smiles and asks if he can help me. The strange thing is if I actually need help, he can answer my questions. This is much more than what I can say for other stores where the people working there look like they would rather be dead or are more likely actually dead. Once, I came to the store wanting a certain Dethklok shirt. I looked through the little pile of clothes they have on a rack and they had none in medium. Since they almost always have shirts in the backroom, I asked if he could check. He said he didn't have any in medium in the back, so I was expecting him to tell me "Tough luck" and move on so he could choose the next Bullet for my Valentine song he can play at insanely high volumes. Instead, he did the unthinkable. He went over to the display shirt and checked the size and sure enough, it was medium. So he let me have the display shirt. This may not sound like much, but rarely have I been to a store where they will take down the display to let someone have. This is an example of excellent customer service, even if it is very small.
That's not all, though. I mean, every store has good ones and bad ones, right? That's what I though. I've been to several different Hot Topics throughout the Southeast (which is where I live, unfortunately) and every single one has had a person at the desk who greeted me and helped me get what I needed. It's little things like that to keep a business strong and even though the employees look like they want to break your neck and drink your blood, they've all been extremely polite and helpful. If I buy nearly anything at their store, the guy working there will almost always start up a conversation about what I'm buying. I once bought a Watchmen shirt from them and the guy started up a conversation about how he loved the graphic novel and was excited about the movie. I once bought a Flight of the Conchords CD from them and the guy told me about how hilarious their songs are. These are all from different Hot Topics.
Another thing that I like about Hot Topic is their online store. They have some things on their online store that aren't for sale in the shops themselves, and the shops have things the online store doesn't. What I've noticed about Hot Topic's online store, though, is how fast they are. I've bought two shirts from their online store and in each instance, they've had the shirts at my house in two days. I ordered one on a Thursday, it showed up on a Saturday. They both were in great condition.
Now, I know that they sell useless stuff and that their main demographic is emo kids with no sense of originality, but when it comes to customer service, Hot Topic is number one in my book. For discussion purposes, I'd like your opinions of Hot Topic as a store and any good or bad experiences you've had with them. Apologies for wall of text and yes I stole the format from the news room.
