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Working at Hot Topic

Zippia score 4.3

Overview

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Hot Topic overview

Industry
Retail
Revenue
$761M
Headquarters
Employees
9,660
Founded in
1988
Website
Organization type
Private
CEO
Kyle Ace
Social media

Hot Topic is a retail company focusing on counterculture-related clothing, accessories, and licensed music. Since its founding in 1988, this American chain has made a name for itself by catering to niche markets and offering unique products that appeal to a diverse range of customers.

Headquartered in Industry, California, Hot Topic is led by CEO Kyle Ace and employs over 9,660 people.. Notably, the company is ranked number one on Zippia's list of Best Companies to Work for in Industry, CA, with employees earning an average salary of $28,147 per year. Hot Topic generates an annual revenue of $761 million, making it a key player in the retail industry

Hot Topic's mission statement

Everything about the music tagline, Hot Topic focuses on serving the needs of alternative music and pop culture-obsessed youth, a mission that has required the company to spot new trends well ahead of the curve.THE FOUNDING OF HOT TOPIC: 1989-94Hot Topic was founded by Orv madden in 1989, after the executive became aware of the marketing opportunities that had been created by MTV and other popular forms of alternative youth culture.

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4.6/5

Hot Topic employee reviews

Based on 12 ratings

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Hot Topic employee reviews

Hot Topic employee reviews
4.6/5

Based on 12 ratings

Work at Hot Topic? Share your experience.
Employee reviews
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5.0
A zippia user wrote a review on Oct 2024
Pros of working at Hot Topic

Learning social skills with both coworkers and customers, learning to improve my team and improve myself for the team

Cons of working at Hot Topic

Slow hours when there's not much to do

Hot Topic benefits

Health benefits and product discounts

What do you like best about Hot Topic's CEO and the leadership team?

Leadership works well with the team to provide the best training that fits best with individuals

How would you improve Hot Topic's culture?

Working better at finding better marketing, the store might be popular and not need much to advertise itself but they could definitely have more to make more appeal to new products coming out.

How did you prepare for the Hot Topic interview?

I prepared by having a confidence build and showing my enthusiasm to work there with liking towards the store

How does your compensation at Hot Topic compare to the industry average?

I do my best to push for sales while continuing to have customer satisfactory which has lead me to progress into the position faster than most

What's the diversity at Hot Topic like?

Working there has increased my knowledge on what is popular and applying that into my work to understand people who come in and be able to understand what they're looking for and provide recommendations

What brings you the most joy at Hot Topic?

Talking to customers and getting to communicate likes to learn new things

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5.0
A zippia user wrote a review on Apr 2024
Pros of working at Hot Topic

it is super epic and really cool. i enjoy seeing the different amounf of people and communicating with them on their interests.

Cons of working at Hot Topic

it is super duper cool

Hot Topic benefits

getting to meet the cool people that enjoy shopping at hot topic

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5.0
A zippia user wrote a review on Oct 2022
Pros of working at Hot Topic

The workers and customers are super nice

Cons of working at Hot Topic

I would like to be able to advance

Hot Topic benefits

40% off all items

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4.0
A zippia user wrote a review on Apr 2021
Pros of working at Hot Topic

I can make my own schedule and they are really flexible.

Cons of working at Hot Topic

I can't advanced from my current position.

Hot Topic benefits

Health benefits and discounts.

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5.0
A zippia user wrote a review on Nov 2020
Pros of working at Hot Topic

Building relationships with customers and turning them into regulars!

Cons of working at Hot Topic

I don't get paid enough to attend school and pay bills.

Hot Topic benefits

The discount!

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5.0
A zippia user wrote a review on May 2020
Pros of working at Hot Topic

I had the opportunity to nerd out with customers and have a good time

Cons of working at Hot Topic

Some days can get irritating and stores can get stuffy

Hot Topic benefits

Having fun with customers and being myself. And discounts for free stuff

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5.0
A zippia user wrote a review on Oct 2019
Pros of working at Hot Topic

Flexibility of extra hours/early sign off days. Great atmosphere & overall fun workforce.

Cons of working at Hot Topic

None

Hot Topic benefits

Overtime outside of peak seasons was not frowned upon.

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A reddit user wrote a review on Dec 2009
Was there a required dress code? Like, "you have to look this goth-y to come to work"

No, not really. I wore a t-shirt, jeans and sneakers to work everyday. Once in awhile we'd have a big visit from regional management or someone else high up, so I'd wear a skirt and some flats or something. Some of the other girls, though I don't understand how, would wear heels and dress up all the time. My feet would have staged a coup if I tried to spend 8 hours on them in heels. And as for the goth-y part, I never considered my self goth. I think the feel of the store was gothic, but it wasn't really my thing. And truth be told, I only worked with a handful of people over the years that would have considered it their thing. The only time when they were really super concerned with what we were wearing was during Halloween. There were theme days and we were supposed to participate. But the only thing they could do if we didn't was lecture us about team moral.

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A reddit user wrote a review on Dec 2009
I worked there as well, back in high school. Did you also get pressured into "befriending" every customer coming into the store in order to sell more merchandise? I actually got fired/was told to quit because I refused to rip people off.

Sure did. That was always my weakness at that job. I felt like we were being coached to screw people into buying as much stuff as possible and I hated that aspect of the position. I think that there is a way to sell to people that is not intrusive, but alas that is not the HT way.

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A reddit user wrote a review on Dec 2009
Doesn't a chain store, with locations in malls just about all over the country, contradict part of what it means to be goth? I feel like people who shop there would scoff at people who shopped at GAP, even though the same company owns both stores.

It's a business. They found a market that was ignored and did really well because of it. When it started I think the vision of the company was excellent, to provide for a customer base that most stores don't care about. But now it is a store that is in search of the next big trend like every other store in the mall. Don't get me wrong, I like the store and I for the most part I liked working there. But to me it is a store and not a way of life. No one should take it super seriously.

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A reddit user wrote a review on Dec 2009
Is it like working at Starbucks and hating Frappuccinos? "Meh I'm so cool"

Some people there have the attitude that the store sucks but it is cool to work there. I never understood that haha. I liked the store, I liked working there for the most part, and I still like it even though I don't work there anymore. however, no longer having the discount deters me from buying stuff there now for the most part.

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A reddit user wrote a review on Dec 2009
I saw a shirt there once that said "I hate preps". Do most of the people there hate preps, or just a few? Because if for some reason I go in to that store, I am usually carrying a bag from a store that might be considered "preppy". Now, I'm not necessarily asking out of a concern for safety because I know if anything were to happen I could easily take any of the kids I've seen in there. The real question is, why do Hot Topic kids hate preps? We're people too, you know.

That's really not true, of the employees at least. One of the girls I worked with also worked at Hollister. So, there's that. As for the kids? Who gives a *** about them, they're kids. And in regards to the store selling the shirt, I can't speak to the motivations because it wasn't offered while I was employed there. But my best guess would be they were catering to the goth kids who think they hate preps but actually don't because they were preps last year before they discovered black hair dye.

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A reddit user wrote a review on Dec 2009
Did you have one creepy hyper-religious guy working there? Every Hot Topic I've ever visited has one creepy religious dude. Which makes one. But still, I wondered if that was some kind of trend, since the one guy seemed pretty comfortable there.

I don't think I would call him hyper-religious, but he was definitely into the big G. Hot Topic is a pretty tolerant place. They have to be because of the type of customer they cater to. The store doesn't sell any Satanic, drug or alcohol related merchandise. They are family friendly goth.

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A reddit user wrote a review on Dec 2009
Sounds like fun, actually. an ex flame of mine worked there for years! A few questions - how often did you get hit on by creepy loser highschool goths? (my "ex" had little emo kids after him 24/7) - What is the funniest conversation you have overheard/funniest conversation exchange you have had? - What were the other employees like? - Was the hiring discriminatory? I assume they look for people who fit that "image". - I may be applying there soon. Would you recommend me? - Who was the coolest person you ever met there? - Who was the lamest reguar/group of regulars? - Were there any perks to the job? I know you get a pretty sick discount, but did you ever get free music samples or anything?

how often did you get hit on by creepy loser highschool goths? - Not very often, honestly. It was usually the nerds because I love Star Wars and I usually had on something Star Wars related. The employees are pretty good about looking out for each other, so if they noticed I was being hit on by a customer they'd come over and send me to do something like get shoes out of the back room. Was the hiring discriminatory? - No, because people that apply generally want to work there because they are in to the crap that the store sells so they'll prance around in the merch and fold t-shirts to their hearts delight. Would you recommend me? - I don't know you, so how could I recommend you? Also, you probably don't want my recommendation because I burned my bridges there haha. Who was the coolest person you ever met there? - I can't think of anyone specific. There were people I worked with that were pretty cool. And there were a lot of repeat customers that were neat. There was a dad and daughter that shopped at my store pretty regularly and they were nice people. The daughter was in and out of mental hospitals but she was as sweet as pie. I think about her a lot and hope she is doing well. She was pretty depressed a lot of the time but her father talked about how much she loved the store and the staff so we all tried to make her shopping experiences extra special when she came in. Who was the lamest reguar/group of regulars? - The high school kids. All of them. Were there any perks to the job? I know you get a pretty sick discount, but did you ever get free music samples or anything? - Yeah we'd get whatever they were giving out to the customers. Sample CDs and DVDs. For me the best perk was getting to hear new music before it came out. We had a player and usually bands would hook the company up and let them put their new albums on the player before they came out.

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A reddit user wrote a review on Dec 2009
I would imagine by looking at the staff, they're pretty lax when it comes to hiring...does any kinky stuff go on between employees? PS: they always play good music when i'm in there

It's pretty difficult to get a job there, actually. Tons of people apply. But, they won't look down on you if you have body mods, so they are lax in that respect. No shenanigans went on while I was there. The company has a policy forbidding employee interaction outside of the workplace unless everyone that works at that particular location is invited. For instance, if the store manager is having a party and he or she wants to include employees, everyone has to be invited for it to be legit. He or she can't hand pick employees to invite or they risk getting in some hot water if anyone higher than them in the food chain finds out. So because of this reason, the sexy time is kept to a minimum for the most part. Although what ends up happening is romances between employees that work in different locations. The store manager of the first location I worked at was dating the manager of another store in our district. This is a-okay with corporate.

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A reddit user wrote a review on Dec 2009
Do you think they could make the stores bigger and still profit?

When you say bigger do you mean as in physical size of the stores, or number of locations? Location wise, I think the market is pretty saturated. They are everywhere, it seems like. If you meant physical size, maybe a little bigger but not by much. I don't think Hot Topic the department store would do well. They have a pretty good customer base, but I don't think it is large enough to support bigger stores that have a large variety of merchandise. Hot Topic sells trends and a lot of the time they are behind the trend. It can take a good six months to take a new trend, say distressed t-shirts, and get them into the stores. A lot of the time new merchandise crashes and burns a slow death on the clearance rack because by the time it showed up at HT, people were over it.

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A reddit user wrote a review on Dec 2009
What do you think was the age of the oldest customer buying stuff for themselves was?

Parents that didn't think the store was evil would come to shop for their kids and usually end up finding something they liked too. We sold a lot of classic rock tees and Beatles stuff to people in their 40s and 50s.

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A reddit user wrote a review on Dec 2009
Is there a facial-piercing minimum number to work there? Kidding (I think). But in all seriousness, what was the craziest customer interaction you ever had?

Haha no, there wasn't a minimum number of facial piercings required. I personally had two though. And most of the people I worked with had them. Most customers asked that same question haha. :) There were several crazy people that shopped at the store on a regular basis. One man spent a good 15 minutes yelling at me about how zombies could never exist after seeing the cover of a Fangoria magazine we had in stock with a George Romero zombie on it. Lots of parents came in demanding refunds for whatever their kids bought or the gift card they received because they thought the store was evil. Tons of people came in drunk and/or high. And smelly. Hot Topic attracts the smelly kids like you wouldn't believe. If you shop there, make sure you wash what you buy before you wear it. When some kid smelled up a Resident Evil shirt while coveting it in the fitting room, all I could do was Febreeze it and hope for the best. And every employee of the store has stalkers. The kids find you online and friend request you until you accept. And then they spend their weekends in the store trying to talk to you while you are trying to work. So basically, the customers in general are crazy.

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The team at Hot Topic

  • The founders of Hot Topic is Orval Madden.
  • The key people at Hot Topic are Kyle Ace and Orval Madden.
Key people
Kyle Ace
Orval Madden

Hot Topic rankings

Hot Topic is ranked #43 on the Best Retail companies to work for in California list. Zippia's Best Places to Work lists provide unbiased, data-based evaluations of companies. Rankings are based on government and proprietary data on salaries, company financial health, and employee diversity.

Read more about how we rank companies.

Hot Topic salaries

Average Hot Topic salary
$13.53
hourly
$28,147 yearly
Updated March 14, 2024

Evaluate Hot Topic's commitment to diversity and inclusion.

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Hot Topic diversity

9.2
Diversity score
We calculated Hot Topic’s diversity score by measuring multiple factors, including the ethnic background, gender identity, and language skills of Hot Topic’s workforce.
Hot Topic diversity summary. Zippia estimates Hot Topic's demographics and statistics using a database of 30 million profiles. Zippia verifies estimates with BLS, Census, and current job openings data for accuracy. We calculated Hot Topic's diversity score by measuring multiple factors, including the ethnic background, gender identity, and language skills of Hot Topic's workforce.
  • Hot Topic has 9,660 employees.
  • 58% of Hot Topic employees are women, while 42% are men.
  • The most common ethnicity at Hot Topic is White (61%).
  • 20% of Hot Topic employees are Hispanic or Latino.
  • 10% of Hot Topic employees are Black or African American.
  • The average employee at Hot Topic makes $28,147 per year.
  • Hot Topic employees are most likely to be members of the democratic party.
  • Employees at Hot Topic stay with the company for 2.5 years on average.

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Hot Topic financial performance

9.1
Performance score

Highest paying Hot Topic competitors

Compare Hot Topic salaries to competitors, including Entertainment Earth, Vitamin Shoppe, and francesca's. Employees at Entertainment Earth earn the highest average yearly salary of $32,835. The salaries at Vitamin Shoppe average $32,302 per year, and the salaries at francesca's come in at $31,553 per year.
RankCompanyAverage salaryJobs
1$32,8350
2$32,3020
3$31,5530
4$31,5190
5$31,4620
6$30,8830
7$30,7650
8$30,6910
9$30,5500
10$30,4390
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    Updated March 14, 2024

    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.