This store has a good selection of clothing.  It covers youthful, goth, punk, and even some "pink" clothing.  They also have a variety of belts and other accessories. The store is not just clothing focused. They have keychains, backpacks, purses, and notebooks. I arrived to pick up an online order and found very friendly and helpful employees.  This is a solid Hot Topic location. read more

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I've been shopping at Hot Topic since the early '90s. I think it's cute that my eldest kid now shops there. That said, do NOT sign up for a credit card in-store. I signed up in 2022, but the associate who entered my mailing address screwed it up. I literally handed them my drivers license so they could copy the information and they got it wrong. This started a massive headache of getting the $40 I had charged on the card paid in full, because I never received a statement in the mail, much less the actual credit card. I called, paid the bill, and asked that they cancel that card, update my mailing address, and issue me a new card. I never received the card. But I keep getting emails reminding me of my credit limit. I called again today and requested that all previous cards be canceled and a new card be reissued. Maybe the third time's a charm? If not, I'm canceling the account. This has been the absolute worst experience I've ever had with a credit card. And it started with the Hot Topic store in Barton Creek. read more

Now unlike others, my review isn't solely about how I've grown up, store is lame, blah blah blah. While all of that is true (sadly), what really sticks out to me when last came in the store (and probably many times after) is the low quality of everything being sold. T-Shirts are all around the $25 mark and very low quality. All of them are the same brand, BlackMatter, and it's a shock to find that regular ol' fruit of the loom brand completely outshines something quadruple the cost. But it does. The clearance rack is honestly a bunch of loose fabric and I quickly decided nothing was worth it. Observing the gorgeous jewelry, I was reminded how everything is made out of very cheap plastic and metal. I observed several items that were broken and cracked on display. Nothing was worth the $7 to $12 it's marked at. The titanium(?) jewelry probably is the only thing worth it so that's why I've given two stars. But I walked out of here for maybe the last time and don't plan on returning. read more

Keith was super happy & helpful! He offered to online order the shirt I wanted because it wasn't in stock. I always appreciate great customer service. read more

I only shop here because my daughter loves it so much and now I love it even more! My daughter moved to ATX from the Houston area and long story short, she had to set up a new account profile and had to provide all of her new Austin info which took a while and their employee, August was so nice, so friendly, so precious, so patient, so kind, so funny! Someone give her a raise! Thank you August for your amazing customer service. read more

Hot Topic? Really? Does anyone who would consider shopping here actually read things like this? I would like to think Yelp and Yelpers were a little more refined than that! Hot Topic is the mecca for creepy kids, scene kids in black with lots of buckles on their pants, rave kids, slackers and Columbine look a-likes. The have overpriced T-shirts, wacky looking pants, all kinds of accessories that you can live without and occasionally they even have some cool CD's. CD's aside there is nothing really worth walking in the door for. UNLESS, you have a theme party and want to dress up, then you can probably find some pretty kick ass ugly clothes here. That's what they specialize in apparently. Bring lots of money, it's overpriced and try not to let anyone see you enter or leave. They might not like you anymore. Second Star for the fact that you can get body jewelry here and I have needed an emergency piece more than once while at the mall. read more

I shop at this location very frequently and I have never had any problems until today. We were told where the line started and so we went and waited in that line (not a problem) but when we got to the register we were told we had to go to the back of the line and basically told us we were lying when they asked if we had waited in line. I understand Christmas is a busy time and like I said waiting in line was not the problem. It was the rudeness and being called a liar that was not ok. I work in customer service and have for years so I feel like this could have been handled better! read more

They turned on the lights. It wasn't enough that their products have gone downhill in the past few years or that the location was moved a few stores down. It wasn't enough that their prices grew as their quality shrank. No. That's not it. They turned on the lights. What it used to be several years ago: A store for the darkly-inclined teenager (sometimes young adult) to find accessories and clothing to match their alternative lifestyle. Loud music, good selection, still overpriced- but whatever it's the mall. What it was when I lost interest: A store for emo kids to crowd about in and stare at not-very-witty buttons and t-shirts claiming how dark they were and how the rest of the world didn't understand. What it is now: A bright store with plaid shirts, low rise pants, and silly bands catering towards a 10-16 year old demographic. The walls are no longer black and dark, creating a somewhat brooding atmosphere. Instead, it has just become another tween/teen hipster store in the mall. Also have noticed staff has become much more standoffish, but whatever- we probably won't be headed there again. read more

Yes, I'm almost 30, and I still go to Hot Topic. Yes, I greatly miss the old Hot Topic. It's dead. It's never coming back. The end. Do I buy clothes there? No. Do I buy CDs there? God no. Here's the thing: I used to buy their body jewelry when I was younger. As I got older, my friends who became part of the tattoo/piercing industry started scolding me about it. They kept saying that Hot Topic sold "cheap pieces of crap" for body jewelry. I'd go, buy a piece of jewelry from a well known shop (not Platinum Ink, I know better than that) and it'd break. I'd go to Hot Topic to temporarily replace it, forget to get another piece of jewelry for forever, and when I did, use the jewelry I got at Hot Topic as back-up for when the new piece of jewelry inevitably fell apart. Yesterday, the higher-ups at my job rolled into town, so I had to take out my ear plugs that I got at Atomic. Don't even get me started on Atomic. Too late... I spent $45 ****ing dollars just on the plugs. I had them for about a month. I took them out at work yesterday, an easy removal, and one of them came apart in the middle. Now, that would be understandable if I had EVER dropped them, or set them down in an aggressive manner, ever, at all, but no. I really liked them so I treated them better than I do almost anything. I don't think I had even set them down on the counter once. Those things were pampered to the max. They fell apart anyway...because Atomic sucks!! I was thinking about this while I was in Hot Topic today (because I'm still mad at Atomic for many reasons...) looking at jewelry that cost about half as much as the stuff that shops carry. I thought about the bar-bell that I got for my tongue at True Blue many moons ago that fell apart, as did the navel ring from Steadfast before they got rid of piercing completely, as did many, many other pieces of jewelry that I shelled out the extra cash for at shops. Then I thought about how, in all the years, not one piece of jewelry that I purchased from Hot Topic had fallen apart on me. I would wear their jewelry for MONTHS (Still cleaning it regularly of course. Clean your jewelry, don't be nasty) and it would still hold up, whereas all the jewelry that I bought from shops (Especially Atomic) would hardly last a single month. Maybe the stuff from shops is better. I'm not sure. Supposedly it's higher grade. If so, then screw higher grade. It doesn't hold up on me. I'm going here from now on. They have a way better selection than most shops, they're way cheaper, and on top of being way cheaper, they usually have a sale or two going on. Sometimes you'll get a surly teenager worker there, but at this location I've found that most of the people working are really nice and helpful. Most of them have some mass amount of body piercings, so they're not talking out of their hoo-hoos when you ask them a question about it. Way better than dealing with some of the people that work in the tattoo shops in Austin. The downside is that it's Hot Topic in Barton Creek Mall. It's not the old Hot Topic, and that makes me sad, because they had a red velvet dress that I never got to buy when I was 14 :( read more

The people that work at this hot topic are always nice to you with a friendly greeting when you come through the door. They are very helpful and will assist you in finding your size if you want them to. The prices are low for many things especially compared to many mall stores that sell the same things - jeans and tshirts. I see lots of posts from other people saying that this store reminds them that they're too old and that the clothes are stupid, and yes many of the clothes are stupid, but there are lots in there that are decent too. I personally don't go for the bondage pants or any of the "avenged sevenfold" shit band tshirts, but a good old pair of jeans and some sort of rock tshirt you might can find. I am 37 years old and I do like the skinny jeans there and some of the rock tshirts they sell. I am a bargain shopper and they always have lots of stuff on sale and on the clearance rack for me to buy for cheap. Yes, hot topic has many 15 year old kids shopping in there with their mothers. Yes you were there once too, but you should be judging a store by what you like there and the quality of the staff rather than using this type of forum to vent your frustrations on your mid life crisis syndrome. bottom line: 1. Nice staff members that are helpful and not pertentious 2. Good selection of rock tees for anyone 3. Nice selection of skinny jeans (and the "Lip Service aka Rude" brand is very comfortable). 4. Frequent sales on items make them a good deal (plus sign up for email and get 10% off coupon to use :) read more

I'm 25 years old now, when i was in my teens like 13,14,15,16 and 17 Hot topic was MY FAVORITE PLACE AT THE MALL. I remember it was a place for headbangers, goths and metal heads. Now days it's filled with Justin Bieber, One Direction, Twilight, Austin Mahone and all this other b.s. I miss the Hot topic i grew up with sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo much!!! They hardly have ANY metal shirts anymore. Now days i have to buy all my metal gear from other places like Spencer's. Hot topic used to be awesome but now days it's a joke. read more

As a geeky fan girl with funky hair - I'm drawn to Hot Topic. Over Black Friday weekend this year, I purchased some items online that were out of stock or not sold at the Barton Creek Mall store. Shipping to the store took a good two weeks. In that time, I had decided against 2 of the 4 things I had ordered. I received notification that my items had arrived on 12/11. I went in to pick my items up and that's when this location began to fail me. The heavily tattooed on the face guy behind the counter took my name and headed to the back to find my order. He came out about 5 minutes later and said it wasn't there. I pulled up the email to confirm my name, the store and what was ordered. An assistant manager went to the back to look at this point. He came back within a minute with my box. Tattoo boy says "Oh, I just looked at all of the bags. I didn't know it was a box." And you were about to send me home empty handed. Great. The asst manager opens the box and I let him know I need to return 2 of the items. He groans and says "only if it's absolutely necessary". Are you effing kidding me?!? I look at the Sherlock shirt that I ordered and its basically a kid's t-shirt. I'm super disappointed and tell him to return that too. Guy was NOT HAPPY. Hey - neither am I! I really wanted a Sherlock shirt! He returns the stuff but says I'm only getting back what I paid and I don't get to hold on to some coupon thingy. Ok dude! Now you're insinuating that I'd want more money back or something my purchase didn't earn?!? Go to hell! I haven't done a single thing that should make you think that. I just wanted the stuff that worked and not the stuff that didn't work out. Kudos to the lovely young lady that was working with these jerks. She was helpful and nice to the people that she dealt with. read more

The employee with the glasses and septum piercing is really nice! He helped me find a septum piercing and I didn't feel rushed.

I remember along time ago there was a hot topic and this was some awesome place for geeks to hang out at, and this was when I was 9, and staff is so so F**king amazing and I hope everyone would loves this awesome place instead of being such a dick about this awesome place read more

When I was a teenager this store used to be AWESOME. Now I am 27 and this store sucks so HARD. It used to be a place for Goths and Metal heads and now it's a place all the Twilight, Justin Bieber, Lil Wayne and NIcki Minaj etc fans. Every time I walk in there I always think "I miss the old Hot Topic". On their website they actually used to have a section for people that are used to the old Hot Topic and the merch they used to sell but they got rid of that. It's such a shame how this store has gone down. I remember when people would barely go into it and it was dark. I even miss the people that used to work there. Sorry but every time I walk into Hot Topic I laugh. read more

Was in search of something for Halloween so I gave hot topic a call and the young lady who answered the phone was very kind. Told her what I was looking for and she politely placed me hold to search. She found what I needed and was the last one so she placed it on hold for me until I arrived. Arrived and instantly was greeted by the same young lady and the gentlemen who checked me out was courteous and both employees had great customer service skill. Was very pleased with my experience. read more

as with any and all businesses goes they have ups and downs. This store has been very good to me...if they cannot find it at the store they try to order it online. Items ordered online with the ship to store option it arrives in a week! The AM crew is awesome! I tend to avoid it during the weekend since it gets a little tight inside the store. read more