Event Brief of Q3 2002 Hot Topic Earnings Conference Call - Final - Part 2.

(From Fair Disclosure Wire)

Q19. So, for the quarter, apparel would be what percentage roughly? (Barbara Wyckoff - Buckingham Research)

A. It is about 50%. I don't know that I have it here for last year. A. We will have to call and give you that number, but we have that somewhere but just not here. Q20. On the men's business, I know there is something that everyone is concerned about and asking about in the industry, but maybe if you could characterize a little bit from your history with the co., when these trends tend to happen? Is it being driven by kind of a lack of a dominant music trend or a lack of a music trend that is actually driving apparel sales, not different enough look out there? Can you just help us understand maybe when the last time this happened and typically what happened to pull you out of this trend? (Jeff Klinefelter - US Bancorp Piper Jaffray)

A. (Elizabeth McLaughlin) It's not the lack of a dominant music trend, because music is stronger than ever. Our music- licensed businesses are comping double digits and we are seeing such incredible business coming across different genres of music. So it is not a music trend or an absence of a music trend, it is more the inspiration that translates from that music trend. What we are seeing right now, if you watch MTV, and stare at the videos or if you go to concerts, you will just see a very basic bottom being worn. There is not a lot of interest there. From my history, usually we snap out of it or there is a new trend that happens in about six months. This happens to be a little bit longer than what we had expected. What we do know from our history is that it is important that we wait until the next trend comes along, because to force something or to try to drive a trend or to attempt to put something in the assortment that the customer doesn't look to us for, i.e. a basic $29.99 denim bottom is a mistake. We just need to hold tight to our focus and a new trend will emerge. The challenge is we need to be open and ready to pounce on it when it does. Q21. How are you planning your spring assortment for men's, young men's, is there something in there that you think may actually turn out to be a catalyst? Are you playing it very conservative for spring and waiting to see if something happens later in the year? (Jeff Klinefelter - US Bancorp Piper Jaffray)

A. (Elizabeth McLaughlin) We believe there might be a catalyst there for men's tops. We are starting to see little things happen in men's tops. I think we feel better about tops for 1Q but as far as bottoms is concerned, we are going to hold tight, we planned it very conservatively and as we move to the holiday period, we continue to test, a lot of testing out there, and we will be able to react to 1Q business, most importantly the spring break business that happens in March and April based on reads that we get from holiday. Q22. Finally, on the Torrid, looking at how you are planning next year, it looks like it is going to be kind of modestly accretive? Is that the way to look at it, considering the way you are planning your expense structure next year? (Jeff Klinefelter - US Bancorp Piper Jaffray)

A. (Elizabeth McLaughlin) We are actually looking at more of a break-even next year. Q23. On Torrid, as you move through next year, what should we expect to see in terms of the merchandise mix that's different just YoverY because I know you have had a lot of learnings (Phonetic) through the year, so as we go into spring, how do you think that business is going to fall out assortment wise relative to what we had a year ago? What sort of metrics will you be reporting, if any, on Torrid as we move QtoQ so that we might be able to kind of gauge whether the progress is on plan or not? (Richard Baum - Credit Suisse First Boston)

A. The merchandise mix at Torrid for competitive reasons, I don't want to talk about that. What I will say is that the goal that we set for ourselves to be closer to 30% in accessories, 70% in apparel is something we are achieving. So, we will continue with that goal next year. As far as metrics on Torrid, we will not be giving out a lot of ...