Geeknet Inc. confirms the receipt of a company acquisition proposal (opens in new tab)

It's strange that they're releasing this after they've signed a merger agreement with Hot Topic. Are they trying to raise the bid enough that the eventual winner pays so much that they can pay Hot Topic to go away? Is this a common occurrence?

When I go to ThinkGeek I know that I'm being pandered to as a geek, but that's okay because ThinkGeek treats the geek demographic with respect.

It's all too easy to just slap some popular geek culture references on a t-shirt or a hoodie and call it a day. Likely profitable, too, considering how many "daily tee" companies I've seen. Those companies don't get much brand loyalty, they could disappear tomorrow and a replacement would step right in to fill the gap.

If anything happened to ThinkGeek, I don't know if anybody else could fill their shoes without years of effort. Whatever happens, I hope they retain their brand and their reputation.