Personally, Hot Topic is one of my FAVORITE stores, but I will be honest... The online merchandise is sometimes better then the store's. They're more of an online centered where I live, meaning the store's aren't very big...

And I'm just going to comment,,, Not ALL Sceamo music is about violence and teen issues. A Day To Remember for instance, not all of their songs are about violence, heck, most aren't. Same for Sleeping with Sirens, and yes, I will admit I have an extreme liking because Kellin Quinn runs 3 different music careers, Closer 2 Closure, solo, and Sleeping with Sirens. Some of the music is actually pretty awesome too and I know some of the people in my class who despised Screamo for the same reason, but they had only listened to a select few bands, some of which were Deathcore and Metal instead of Screamo. Black Veil Brides is also a very good Screamo band. They're songs have meanings. I agree on the rap music note, all that is about is Sex and Beating up some random wannabe-gangsters and a group of other wannabe-gangsters trying to make some noise. I guess the reason why I'm so into Screamo and Rock is the lyrics, the sound of the song can be HORRIBLE, as long as the lyrics are amazing and have meaning, I listen. But, it's all a matter of opinion.

Hot Topic is more centered around pop-culture now, I agree with that. It's a shame, they had some awesome stuff. Tripp's section keeps getting slimmer and slimmer by the week.

Overall, I guess I'm saying that Hot Topic is a good store to me, but it might not be to you, so it depends on opinion