By Mark Seavy 

Spencer Spirit Holdings’ acquisition of Hot Topic and its affiliates Box Lunch and Her Universe potentially creates a hub for new IPs to compete against the likes of PopMart and Miniso, according to licensing industry executives. 

The combined retailer potentially provides a broader home for emerging IPs and suppliers, something that has been lacking since the collapse of Toys ‘R’ Us in 2017.  

Both chain a history of being ahead of the curve for trends. Hot Topic was among the first to carry Funko Pop! products and has built a deep assortment of videogame, anime, and manga-related licensed products in expanding beyond the music-based assortment that once accounted for 40% of annual sales. Spencer Spirit, meanwhile, was early in bringing in animatronics and direct-to-retail programs to its Halloween stores, concepts that will carry over to the 44 seasonal Christmas locations expected to open this year. Spencer’s also was early in carrying toy supplier Schylling’s NeeDoh, a product filled with maltose sugar, polyvinyl alcohol, or cornstarch that return to their original shape after being squeezed. The line, which was introduced in 2017 and is available in 50 different styles, became a viral sensation on TikTok late last year causing widespread stock shortages at retail.

 a line of sensory fidget toys produced by the American toy company Schylling.[1] The toys are small, squeezable items filled with a non-toxic, dough-like compound that returns to its original shape after being manipulated.[1]

Originally launched in 2017 as the “NeeDoh, The Groovy Glob” stress ball,[2] the NeeDoh line has expanded to include over 50 different styles in a variety of shapes, textures, and colors. The line became a viral sensation on TikTok in late 2025 and early 2026, causing widespread stock shortages at retailers across the United States and internationall

“Marvel is going to have a big personality everywhere, but there are other good creators coming up with their own worlds that are as equally powerful and these stores are the venues for it,” a licensing executive said. “If you are in the toy aisle at Walmart and Target you are up against Barbie, Bratz, Disney Princesses, and the five [movie] studios and that is it. I think it is great that the two chains can come together at this point to expand the toy shelf and that could be a great hub for the incubation of ideas.” 

That strategy will be put to the test when many retail toy buyers begin their tour of supplier showrooms in mid-September to view product lines for 2027 and beyond. Walmart and Target are said to have completed their reviews in August, but September meetings will be a good means of gauging the strategy that will be deployed by the newly merged retailer.  

It is expected however that there will be conflicts in some categories, like Halloween costumes. While Hot Topic and Spirit will have separate Halloween assortments this year— Jakks Pacific’s Disguise Division is a supplier to Hot Topic, for example—the question of how to address the category will likely come up in the future, given that Spirit has strong DTR programs. 

Spencer’s was founded as a mail-order company and opened its first brick-and-mortar store in Cherry Hill, NJ in 1963. It was sold to MCA (the forerunner of NBCUniversal) in 1967. The chain was sold again in 2001 to Vivendi as part of the company’s purchase of Universal Studios and was purchased by a Gordon Brothers and Palladin Capital Partners joint venture two years later. Acon Investment bought the chain in 2007 and sold it back to management in 2015. Hot Topic, meanwhile, went public in 1996 and was sold to Sycamore Partners in 2013.  

As currently envisioned, the merger creates a chain of 1,502 locations stretching across the U.S. and Canada with separate buying organizations and management. The approach is similar to the way Hot Topic (577 stores in the U.S. and 38 stores in Canada) has operated with affiliate Box Lunch (280 locations), which opened in 2015. Spencer’s has 607 locations with another 1,500 operating seasonally under Spirit Halloween, a chain it acquired in 1999 with just 60 locations. 

The chains, which were founded in 1989 (Hot Topic) and 1947 (Spencer’s), also have a reputation for being innovative and catering to more niche demographics.   

Spencer’s launched the Phluid sexual health and wellness line in 2023 with The Phluid Project, an organization founded in 2018 to promote gender-free fashion, activism, and education aimed at promoting inclusivity and self-expression. Hot Topic, meanwhile, is known for its goth and cosplay assortments and launched a short-lived BlackHeart lingerie store format in 2011 that was later folded into its locations and online.  

Hot Topic and Spencer’s also have locations in many of the same regional malls. Hot Topic and Box Lunch already share malls. A mall in Danbury, CT, for example, has four pop culture stores, including PopMart, Newbury Comics, Hot Topic, and Spencer’s, the latter two both on the first level. 

“The personalities of the stores are similar, and they are direct competitors with stores in the same locales and same positions in malls,” said Jonathan Cathey, CEO of collectibles supplier Loyal Subjects, which sells through Hot Topic. “It is a good partnership because they will run independently and Hot Topic has been a trendsetter that spots trends and talent and curates that talent. There will be even more of an opportunity and in a world where the toy shelf is shrinking, the combination could pick up the slack and create deeper opportunities to rebuild that store count again [for smaller suppliers].”