Twilight Takes Bite Out of Retail

By on March 26th, 2009

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The Twilight movie that blasted into box offices last November with a record-breaking $70.6 million on opening weekend, showed the power of teen girls who have a deep love for the book series of the same name. Written by Stephanie Meyer, the Twilight books tell the tale of forboden love between a teen vampire name Edward Cullen and the shy, smart Bella Swan.

Yes, the film has done tremendous business, but who knew that it could help the sales of clothing at gothic emporium, Hot Topic, which reported that sales increased 11.4% in the third quarter which was right about the time that the Twilight movie hit theaters. The Twilight merchandise had been flying out of the Hot Topic stores across American malls, for now, this retail store has been counting its blessings for the popularity of this teen vampire flick.

Hot Topic CEO Betsy McLaughlin says it is inevitable that sales will eventually decrease as teen girls await the next film in the Twilight series hits theaters though she says she’s “not sure there will be a next ‘Twilight.’”

Well, Ms. McLaughlin, just so you know, the sequel, “New Moon,” has already been greenlit, and fans are already blogging up a storm about the film and how true it will be to the original book. It’s always good to see that no matter how dire our current retail/Economic landscape may be, true fans will figure out a way to get what they want. So bring on those Twilight t-shirts!