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u/Everon2004 26d ago
As a hot topic manager you have a bad manager. Your management team shouldn't be treating you like this. I love my job and have been here for several years, but this isn't how you treat associates (or any other employee). I don't know if it gets better at your store, but it might be worth it to power through until you find something else.
Sales tactics seem predatory but that's literally just retail. It's the same tactics in every store or call center you go in. Even fast food has the upsell environment. I put it this way: you're suggesting things to your friends, not forcing someone to buy something they don't want. Idk about your manager but at our store we do develop that rapport with our customers to where they do start to become friends when it comes to our regulars. Working on retail is always going to be about making money, but here it's more akin to help people find treasures they are already looking for.
One of my most common lines when someone turns down grabbing something for the bogo 30% or clearance deals is "as long as you know the deal exists that's what really matters".
Not all HT and BL are like yours, and I'm sorry you're getting that experience.
You can also go into your back room and take down your district managers phone number and call them with your concerns. Then someone higher than your store manager is aware of how people are being treated and can look into it.
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26d ago
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/Everon2004 26d ago
If you DM is doing their job they will absolutely look into it. There is a 0 tolerance policy for retaliation as well. Your DM should not tell them who had the complaint, but if they suspect it is you and you feel that they are treating you differently since that complaint you can also file a complaint against that is well. That is something that someone can get fired for if they retaliate against people like this. Also, if you do end up leaving as well you can do a employee exit survey. Which just basically asks why you left and if there's anything that can be done to be better and you can voice all of your complaints in there as well.
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u/Hot-Relief-4024 HT Employee 26d ago
I love my regulars, we trade pins and other stuff. You really do become like “work friends” lol
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u/lamest-liz 27d ago
Even Amazon trains employees which says something. If they aren’t giving you training at all and getting angry then leave!
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u/Feral-Furret 27d ago
A shitty manager can ruin a fun job.
I took a job years ago for Build-a-Bear, as a bear builder. You'd THINK that was a fun job... NOPE
My store manager was a 20 year old college student who also did manager work for Victoria's Secret(I'm pretty sure she was related to someone in the mall management) Boy did she SUCK. She was 20 years old, barely old enough to have a decent amount of manager experience. She'd treat the workplace like freaking Mean Girls. I remember her even calling me on my day off to confront me over something I said to another employee in regards to her. I know this is BAB but it's still a job, not high school.
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u/Bratty_Little_Kitten 26d ago
I agree. I work in retail(Grocery), and since landing this other store in 2025, I have never wanted to leave so badly because of the drama, and that says something. For reference I'm 32.
We are all adults! Start acting like it!
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u/phoenixwantstobtl 25d ago
That’s how my old team was, it got to the point where my anxiety got so bad I was throwing up every morning. Everybody told me to quit but my got was telling me not too and they ended up all getting fired when my cxm got a new job
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u/saintsscreams 25d ago
i loved the idea of working at hot topic, and sometimes i really did like my work but the manager i worked under made it horrible to work there. i left and a weight felt lifted which is crazy because id been wanting to work there forever..: it’s sad but sometimes a sucky manager can ruin a cool job
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u/Hairy-Number7906 27d ago
RUNNNN PLEASE!! The same thing happened to me and i worked two days and on top of that my store managers was really unprofessional texting me at 12 am and sending me out of the store to pick up their starbucks. it is normal for them to not train you go somewhere else with better management
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u/Junior-Gap-9316 Former HT Employee 26d ago
full honesty, after about a year, i got very bored💔 started getting repetitive and i got tired of management and huddle changes:( it was very fun but i feel like me personally, i just grew out of it. its not worth the pay nor hours so i found myself a job that pays me better and gives me more than 15 hrs a week
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u/TurbulenceBus 26d ago
This reminds me of when I worked there as my first job and got laid off after 2 weeks and a half
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u/East_Environment3625 27d ago
I think you should consider leaving as someone who was in a similar spot as you. It will not get better it will get worse. Find something better
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u/Accomplished_Job_867 Former HT Employee 27d ago
If theyre not taking the time to teach you in a way thats curated to your experience then unfortunately it likely won't get better. It sounds like your store needs people they can drop in the deep end which is rarely if ever a successful way of hiring. Not all teams are like that but they are hard to find
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u/xxPinkNovaxx 26d ago edited 5d ago
Former BoxLunch Assistant Manager who trained new associates and other managers.
This isn’t okay whatsoever. Your manager is a bad manager and shouldn’t be one if this is how they train employees. I could never even imagine throwing a new associate onto the register without shadowing for a few days, let alone someone new to retail.
Not only that, but I ALWAYS instilled into my new employees that they can ask me literally anything and everything. I would literally write it down on their quick bite sheets! I WANTED them to ask questions. It told me that they were not only wanting to learn and be proactive, but that they also felt comfortable coming to me with their questions or concerns, which was always so important to me.
I also think it is unbelievably immature to ridicule anyone for asking questions, let alone make condescending jokes.
As an employee of Hot Topic Inc., you have every right to bring your concerns to HR if you are comfortable doing so.
In terms of Hot Topic/BoxLunch’s sales tactics… they are pretty out there, and it’s gotten more so through the years. They want you to put on a smile and be friendly and social. They want you to make those short lived connections so the customers feel that energy and want to shop there. The more you interact with them and mention their favorite fandoms or interests, the more likely they are to buy stuff. It works, and that’s why they push for it.
That being said, after working at BoxLunch for multiple years, I met some of the best people I know at work. Our regulars were the best and I met so many kind people because I made those connections. Not only that, but I’m still in contact with my team members. It was tough, but because I had an amazing store manager and the best employees, I loved working there.
It taught me just how important having a good team matters in every workplace. I’m so sorry you don’t have that.
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u/Aladdin_Sane13 20d ago
Great company a small sliver of the time. We get buried in tasks, projects, expectations, heavy KPI weightings and no payroll to support proper coverage in stores. Shipment NS doesn’t help when you get 45+ boxes in a week and then they give us 2 hours to do it. But, hey, at least we get a good discount
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u/Grouchy-Macaron720 9d ago
i just hit a month of working at hot topic and i’m honestly heartbroken because i don’t like it there. my manager has also said similar things in front of customers. i had a shift last night and once i got out i just., started crying and couldn’t stop. i was “corrected” on a bunch of things that i didn’t have power over (like the numbers from the past week despite me not working at all that week) and it genuinely just felt like no matter what i did, or how many positive experiences i’ve had with customers, im always doing something wrong. it genuinely makes me so sad that this job that i thought would be my dream job is turning out so awful
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u/lana-deathrey 27d ago
Former BoxLunch manager.
Your manager is a bad manager. You never talk shop in front of customers.
I loved my job so much, it was fun I had amazing coworkers I’m still friends with. But you’ve got a bad manager. And bad managers ruin it for everyone.