Kermit the Frog and Miss Piggy socks. Body jewelry. SpongeBobSquarePants shoelaces. Where can such an eclectic and highlydesirable selection like this be found?

Hot Topic and Torrid are sister-stores located on the secondfloor of Arden Mall (across from the food court) in the greaterSacramento area. Both are set with dark walls and dark floors, withdark shirts, pants and other accessories on display.

Created with the teenage music scene in mind, Good Charlotte,Korn, Blink-182, Radiohead and other bands are what inspire thestores today. Company executives watch music videos that featurerock artists, and that’s where they get the ideas for the store’sproducts.

Hot Topic was the first-born of the two, created in 1988 for the15-22 age group in search of punk, gothic and club wear, as well ashandbags, shoes, lingerie, body jewelry, watches and lots of otheraccessories.

Torrid was created only about two years ago, attending to thefashion needs of the lucratively growing demographic: plus-sizes.They supply the goods for young women sizes 12-26 with clothes madefor them, not for their smaller friends and certainly not for theirmothers. They also sell much of the same accessories as Hot Topic.They look to expand to more locations and broaden product horizonsakin to Wet Seal or Bebe.

“They have nice stuff, I usually shop there (Hot Topic)for my friends. I buy bracelets for myself,” Blanca Cervantos, aCriminal Justice major said. Anyone who walks into either storewould see at least one thing to buy, either for them or a gift forsomeone else.

On the other hand, Sac State junior Sam Mendoza commented thathe hasn’t shopped there because he can “find clotheselsewhere.”

Yes, he can. But there are more fun things to discover at HotTopic and Torrid than standard apparel, if it could ever be calledthat. “They have really nice stuff here,” declared Computer Sciencemajor Jann Fernandez, while shopping at Hot Topic.

She looks at fairy wings, shoelaces, and shirts with cutepictures on them. But what does she normally buy or want to buy atHot Topic? “I want to buy those cool shirts that have prettydesigns especially my favorite, Curious George. I love CuriousGeorge. I’m glad they have it. Also, I buy some items for myfriends’ birthdays.”

Stephen Limm, another Computer Science major, shopsthere because, “they have many unique products intended for geeks,dweebs, dorks, and nerds.” As long as someone’s shopping there, HotTopic probably doesn’t really mind. In fact, he likes the storebecause it’s “the one stop goth shopping for all dark rituals.”

It may not really go that far. But they do sell quite theinviting variety of plush toys, cologne, fragrances, air freshenersand loads of other things adorable not found anywhere else.

So if you don’t listen to rock music, or even like the colorblack, there’s still something for you to discover in Hot Topic orTorrid. Regardless of your size or tastes, you’ll see somethinginteresting.