SAN ANTONIO — Employees at the Hot Topic store in Ingram Park Mall are working diligently to replace all of the Halloween season “The Nightmare Before Christmas” products for the Christmas season “The Nightmare Before Christmas” merchandise, confirmed hurried sources.
“It’s important to get this product switched out seamlessly, since like 90% of our revenue comes from ‘Nightmare’ merch. The other 10% still comes from nu metal band shirts,” said store manager Luke Marcotte. “But it’s kind of tough to tell this seasonal stuff apart, so you have to know what you’re looking for. Typically the Halloween merch is Oogie Boogie-heavy, while the Christmas stuff is all about Sandy Claws. Except the black holiday Oogie Boogie hoodies, those are for Christmas. Those are different from the black Oogie Boogie hoodies we sell year-round, too, I think. Jeez, they really all look alike. Spencer’s makes stuff like this look so easy.”
“The Nightmare Before Christmas” superfan Matilda Garza has been looking forward to the new Christmas merch drop, but has become frustrated with Hot Topic’s delays.
“Most normal stores have their festive stuff out as soon as Halloween is over, but Hot Topic is so slow,” Garza noted. “I went shopping to get a new Christmas Jack and Sally shirt I saw on TikTok to wear to our Friendsgiving celebration, but all they mainly had was the Dr. Finkelstein shirts and figurines still. So instead I show up wearing the Halloween shirt with the movie poster on it that I bought last year, like I’m some sort of asshole. Get your shit together, Hot Topic!”
Disney Vice President of Seasonal Merchandising Hannah Andrews acknowledges the peculiar place “The Nightmare Before Christmas” has in the company’s sales plan.
“With its roots in both Halloween and Christmas, ‘Nightmare’ merch dominates Q4 sales for us,” Andrews said. “And through our partnership with Hot Topic, we keep fans of the movie engaged with our products year round, especially for those who celebrate the movie during Easter and Labor Day. But yeah, a lot of these goods look the same, and oftentimes we forget to send new products or accidentally release the same Corpse Kid t-shirts over and over again, just with slightly different tags and price points. It’s been over 30 years, and there’s only so many frames of the movie to put on a t-shirt.”
At press time, a massive truckload of money made from “The Nightmare Before Christmas” merchandise residuals was seen backing up to Tim Burton’s house.