Spencer Spirit Holdings, Inc. has reached an agreement to acquire Hot Topic Inc. from private equity firm Sycamore Partners, uniting five retail chains and six brands under a single umbrella. Spencer’s brands include Spirit Halloween (1,550 stores), Spencer’s (650 stores), and Spirit Christmas (44 stores), while Hot Topic owns Hot Topic (615 stores), BoxLunch (280 stores), and fashion brand Her Universe.
Trend stores Spencer’s, Hot Topic, and BoxLunch mall stores all have overlap in types of merchandise and licenses, with different target markets and exclusive lines differentiating them.
After the acquisition, Hot Topic, BoxLunch and Her Universe will continue to operate independently, managed from the current Hot Topic headquarters in California by Hot Topic CEO Steve Vranes. Vranes will report to Spencer Spirit Holdings CEO Steven Silverstein. The holding company is headquartered in New Jersey.
Hot Topic, which has been around since 1989, launched BoxLunch in 2015 with a commitment to contribute to Feeding America for every sale (see “New Chains“), and acquired Her Universe in 2016 (see “Hot Topic Acquires Her Universe“). Spencer’s was founded in 1947, and it acquired Spirit Halloween in 1999.
The companies expect to close the transaction in Q3.
Source: ICV2
