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Article: New president mindful of retailer's torrid growth pace.(People)(Patricia Van Cleave, Hot Topic Inc.'s Torrid Div.)(Brief Article)
- Article from:
- Los Angeles Business Journal
- Article date:
- September 15, 2003
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2003 CBJ, L.P. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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IN a marketing class at the University of Minnesota, Patricia Van Cleave got hooked on trends.
"Retail is like anthropology to me. I like to look back at the magic ingredients that explain why a customer wants something. Those ingredients are psychological and emotional, and deal with lifestyle," she said.
As the new president of Industry-based Hot Topic Inc.'s Torrid division, Van Cleave has a chance to analyze the ingredients feeding its customer base of plus-sized teens and 20-somethings.
"We were getting thousands of requests at Hot Topic from girls who couldn't find their sizes in our stores and didn't want to shop where their mothers ...