
Geeknet to be acquired by Hot Topic - hownottowrite
http://www.nasdaq.com/article/geeknet-to-be-acquired-by-hot-topic-for-1750shr--quick-facts-20150526-00216
======
gyardley
The mainstreaming of 'geek' culture is interesting. It feels like I'm
increasingly being targeted - which isn't necessarily a bad thing, because
hey, I generally like comic books and video games and light sci-fi / fantasy
television shows, and there's a lot more of all of those lately. But why is
this happening at this point in time?

Is this some sort of response to economic changes in American society? The job
market has polarized, with 'geeks' landing on the more attractive side on the
divide. Is this a case of an economic domination leading, gradually, to a
cultural one?

I wonder if strapping on a geeky t-shirt and throwing oneself into geek
culture is becoming the equivalent of dressing preppy in the 1980s, with both
reflecting higher economic aspirations.

~~~
vosper
I'm not sure it's a response to economic aspirations. I think it's more that a
lot of the things that used to mark one as being a geek have become massively
mainstream - owning a computer, owning a smartphone, using the internet, using
reddit, using emojis / emoticons, etc...

At the same time (possibly it's the same effect) the definition of geek has
softened. It's much less pejorative, much less sci-fi and math-club, than it
used to be. It's almost trendy. It's certainly been co-opted by marketing and
consumer interests.

Sort-of related, Simon Pegg wrote an interesting blog post recently [1].
Here's an interesting quote:

"[...] this extended adolescence has been cannily co-opted by market forces,
who have identified this relatively new demographic as an incredibly lucrative
wellspring of consumerist potential. Suddenly, here was an entire generation
crying out for an evolved version of the things they were consuming as
children. This demographic is now well and truly serviced in all facets of
entertainment and the first and second childhoods have merged into a
mainstream phenomenon."

[1] [http://simonpegg.net/2015/05/19/big-mouth-strikes-
again/](http://simonpegg.net/2015/05/19/big-mouth-strikes-again/)

~~~
toomuchtodo
> At the same time (possibly it's the same effect) the definition of geek has
> softened. It's much less pejorative, much less sci-fi and math-club, than it
> used to be. It's almost trendy. It's certainly been co-opted by marketing
> and consumer interests.

I think that's right around the the world found out that if you're a geek, you
have leverage (tech skills) are are more likely than the average citizen to
have higher than average income (tech workers) or wealth (founders).

TL;DR Geeks (we) inherited the modern day economy.

"Render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and unto God the things that
are God's"

------
falcolas
Well, there goes the neighborhood.

I've always enjoyed Think Geek, both as a brand and as a company. They have a
great sense of humor, and come up with some great T-Shirts. I've also walked
my niece through Hot Topic, and I didn't really care much for the quality of
their goods, or the feeling I get in their store.

I hope TG can retain what makes them good, but I'm not hopeful at this point.

~~~
amyjess
Hot Topic has had a long, slow decline.

They used to be a store for the goth subculture. They carried not only goth
fashions but also goth music. They built a good reputation and had a distinct
market niche because they were the only place in the mall you could get actual
goth stuff. They actually made the subculture accessible to people.

And, then, at some point, they stopped caring. They stopped carrying goth
music and switched their fashions over to generic "edgy" stuff. They stopped
carrying anything belonging to a subculture or anything, and they became just
another Spencer's knockoff for kids to buy stuff their parents won't approve
of.

I shudder to think what will happen if Hot Topic applies this model to
ThinkGeek. ThinkGeek has done a good job of, well, doing what Hot Topic used
to do: sell products associated with a subculture and make that subculture
accessible to people. I'd hate to see it diluted like Hot Topic has been...

~~~
philwelch
The goth subculture has either been dying out or else the last remaining goths
these days are approaching their thirties, so Hot Topic would have had to
change up their business model just to survive.

For me, ThinkGeek is increasingly catering to a kind of mainstream, pop-
culture "geek" subculture that's focused around watching TV more than
anything. It's already gone through the same transition that Hot Topic went
through. So it's a perfect fit.

~~~
knodi123
> The goth subculture has either been dying out or else the last remaining
> goths these days are approaching their thirties, so Hot Topic would have had
> to change up their business model just to survive.

Not at all:

[http://www.aaanything.net/wp-
content/uploads/2012/11/Onion_W...](http://www.aaanything.net/wp-
content/uploads/2012/11/Onion_Weekender_How_to_stay_goth_past_50.jpeg)

~~~
67726e
Maybe not strictly "goth", but I certainly fell into their market segment in
my teenage years (where else does one get one of those lovely studded belts in
the south?). About a year ago I was at a rather large mall up in Charlotte, NC
and passed by the Hot Topic and the changes were rather noticeable. The most
striking thing was the store was brightly lit. Then came the inventory. It
used to be one would find an assortment of clothes, accessories, music, and a
random assortment of other goods that one would associate with goth/punk/emo
folk. This store had very little of the merchandise I once spent my hard
earned money on. There were the shirts with Justin Bieber, Miley Cyrus, and
their ilk. Then came the meme shirts... think along the lines of the troll
face. This store bore absolutely no resemblance to anything I would have ever
stepped foot in as an angsty teen. Honestly, if it weren't for the signage, I
likely would have mistaken the store for a Claire's[0]. The Hot Topic in my
local, smaller mall retains some of the "charm" of the stores I so fondly
remember, but even then the atmosphere, music, and products seem a bit more
aimed at the "pop" crowd.

I wonder if this was the result of a change in management, or if the store has
always just followed the trends. Now that I think about it, that probably is
exactly it. It's even right in the name, "Hot Topic", following fads. That
said, I don't have a lot of hope for this particular acquisition.

I found this photo, which resembles the aforementioned "bright" Hot Topic, but
is actually quite a bit less peppy than the one I saw[1]. Contrast this with
the typical Hot Topic of my youth[2].

[0] - [http://www.claires.com/us/](http://www.claires.com/us/) [1] -
[http://www.protectshareholderrights.com/sites/default/files/...](http://www.protectshareholderrights.com/sites/default/files/styles/threshold-480/public/slideshows/hottopic.jpeg?itok=2vqubuXG)
[2] -
[http://a.scpr.org/i/716075979884c2a7627a21b628ae0f77/95578-f...](http://a.scpr.org/i/716075979884c2a7627a21b628ae0f77/95578-full.jpg)

------
ben1040
Always funny how VA Research started out as a company that sold computers and
had an absolutely bonkers 1990s IPO[1], only to wind up as a company that just
sold T-shirts to people who use computers.

[1]
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geeknet#Initial_public_offering](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geeknet#Initial_public_offering)

~~~
rwmj
Anyone have the inside story about why VA stopped selling Linux computers? It
seems to me a business which could have been huge.

~~~
gaius
What's the market for people who want boxes running Linux, but don't want
their own installation?

~~~
normloman
Perhaps they were hoping of building that market. It was feasible that through
some effort, you could convert enough every day windows users to Linux, based
on the lower price, reliability, and low maintenance (no spyware). In
retrospect it was a foolish idea.

------
brickmort
ThinkGeek had already become a geekier Hot Topic somewhere in the past two
years. This news isn't surprising.

~~~
chmullig
I think it's been on that trajectory for longer than 2 years. They lost
anything that made them unique or interesting years ago. It just became Dr
Who/Star Trek/Star Wars/LOTR/whatever franchise of the moment shit.

------
blueskin_
I remember when thinkgeek had a wide variety of genuinely interesting stuff
and not just the latest pop culture 'geek' merchandise (sure, they've always
had _some_ of that, but years back it wasn't the overriding theme like it is
today). This is a sad moment, but probably to have been expected.

------
libraryatnight
Think Geek is mostly just a pop-culture store now, and that's pretty much what
Hot Topic is, so this makes sense to me. Think Geek hasn't been focused on
'geeks' in a long time.

------
adventured
For those unfamiliar, Geeknet had one of the wildest IPO rides in recent
history, at the peak of the dotcom bubble:

"It was the first time an IPO has ever finished the regular session at above
$200 a share on the Nasdaq Stock Market. It meant that in an instant, the
stock of the Sunnyvale, Calif., company went from small-capitalization
territory to large -- $9.5 billion, or more than half that of Apple Computer."

[http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB944749135343802895](http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB944749135343802895)

"VA Linux Systems took its stock public in an initial public offering (IPO) on
9 December 1999, under the stock symbol LNUX. The IPO offered shares at $30,
but the traders held back the opening trade until the bids hit $299. The stock
popped up to $320 later in the day, and closed its first day of trading at
$239.25—a 698-percent return on investment."

[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geeknet#Initial_public_offering](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geeknet#Initial_public_offering)

And another good story on it:

[http://www.cnet.com/news/10-years-gone-the-va-linux-
systems-...](http://www.cnet.com/news/10-years-gone-the-va-linux-systems-ipo/)

------
edude03
I'm not an economist by any stretch of the definition, but I wonder if the
multitudes of acquisitions we're seeing is a net plus or a net minus for the
economy

~~~
naturalethic
Every voluntary exchange is a net plus or it wouldn't occur.

~~~
criley2
It's a net plus for the investors and owners, not necessarily for "the
economy". If one believes the health of the economy is measured by the broad-
based success of those involved in the economy, then M&A is rarely a net good
for the economy, as it generally converts labor and assets into investment and
profit. They'll downsize, fire redundant people, sell off redundant assets and
be more profitable with a smaller business. Great for investors, not great for
the people who lose their jobs and the businesses those displaced workers used
to spend at.

~~~
UK-AL
It sounds bad but firing unnecessary workers means that those workers will
eventually be used for something more productive. A net gain.

~~~
dagw
Assuming a frictionless economy and an infinite timeframe. In the real world
many of those workers will die of old age before your "eventually" rolls
around.

~~~
UK-AL
Ok then. Lets follow your idea to a logical conclusion, lets ban companies
closing down and merging with other companies to protect jobs and labour.

So now you have unused companies that are not provided any useful service.
They are mainly there for jobs for jobs sake. There will be lots of smaller
companies with lots of duplicated resources, which could have otherwise have
merged and shared resources.

At what point does this become silly?

You might as well pay people to dig giant holes.

If you were able merge two companies, fire people, and get rid of unused
assets and still serve the same amount of customers. That means there was
massive waste, and the merge resolved that.

~~~
dagw
No the logical conclusion of my argument is that we as a society have to start
accepting that a large number of people will live a large part of their lives
without being "productive" and find ways to deal with that.

Also we have to accept that what is long term best for "The Economy" isn't
necessarily short term best for all the people in the economy.

I'm not against growth, I'm just against ignoring and refusing to pay the very
real human costs of growth.

~~~
UK-AL
"No the logical conclusion of my argument is that we as a society have to
start accepting that a large number of people will live a large part of their
lives without being "productive" and find ways to deal with that."

I actually think we are far from that, because human wants are virtually
unlimited, so there will always be jobs required for humans in
arts/entertainment/engineering. Things that will always require a human
judgement.

But lets assume we are? The best way to force action is for it actually
happen. If we just create non-jobs to cover it up, politicians will put off
doing something about it for a long time.

------
VLM
I haven't shopped at a classic mall in decades. I wonder if a "thinkgeek"
store at a mall would make me go back?

------
mathgeek
Going to be a great opportunity for small geek-centric online retailers to
step in and grab some market share. I'm sure I'm not the only one who won't
shop at ThinkGeek anymore.

------
heimatau
Can someone explain this to me? Why would HT buyout Geeknet? Just seems
strange to go against their own culture and model.

~~~
electronvolt
It's totally in HT's business model/corporate DNA. Hot Topic's business model
is about commodifying, accessorizing, and packaging subcultures in order to
sell them at a huge markup.

ThinkGeek conveniently packaged nerd/geek culture as a set of things you could
buy. Delightfully nerdy things, sure, and their employees seemed to genuinely
be pretty nerdy but the model is not too different from HT. Now that being a
nerd/geek is starting to become 'cool' (see recent uptick in portrayals of
geeky/nerdy protagonists in non-comedy hollywood, etc.), HT probably wants to
package up nerd/geek culture, and acquiring ThinkGeek was probably the most
straightforward way to do that.

