Sanity closes down all its stores as next retailer to be impacted predicted
The closure of all stores for one retailer has prompted an outpouring of sadness but in a twist its revealed a surprising move on what’s next.
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The store locator of an iconic music and entertainment retailer’s website has revealed the sad reality for the once popular outlet, which used to boast 50 physical stores across Australia.
Instead it now shows an almost blank page with a grim message.
On Sunday, the very last two Sanity music stores closed doors for good.
“Unfortunately there are no Sanity stores available. We will continue to operate our online store to help you with all of your Music, Movies & Entertainment needs,” it reads with a blank space where a map previously featured
Sanity had been a staple for Australian music lovers for more than three decades, known for selling CDs and DVDs, but its last two stores, both based in Queensland, at Brisbane and Bundaberg, were shut down over the weekend.
The company will still sell its products online as it focuses more strongly on e-commerce as a revenue stream.
In a twist, the retailer also shared it would be adding some more unusual new products to its online offering “daily”.
“From massage chairs to trampolines & everything in-between! It’s never been more exciting for Sanity customers,” the retailer posted on Facebook on Monday.
The closures saw new technology disruptions playing out in the market, said Queensland University of Technology retail expert Dr Gary Mortimer.
“Rather than buying a box set on DVDs to watch consumers can simply download an entire series either to their Notebooks or smart TVs and the same goes for music,” he told news.com.au.
“We rarely buy a CD anymore we download music via Spotify or other apps and it goes to show that as technology and innovation increases for those types of business, they eventually shifts to a digital structure. So obviously Sanity will close their physical stores and have a digital channel for movies and music
“It’s an end of an era for retailers that sell DVDs and CDs in the same way that we saw Blockbuster and Civic and those rental DVD stores go by the wayside, as we saw VHS tapes go by the wayside.”
But surprisingly Dr Mortimer said a revival of one classic product was seeing huge demand in physical retail stores.
“I still think there is an opportunity for vinyl and there is a lot of nostalgia connected to vinyl records and we see retailers like JB Hi-Fi really expanding in that vinyl area, which is something that consumers still look for,” he added.
Dr Mortimer predicted another retail space will be looking at their physical footprint as the move to online accelerates.
“I think EB Games is probably another retailer that would be looking at their product ranges as most people will download a playable game to their PS5 or to their gaming console or their computer rather than actually physically going into a store and physically buy a game,” he noted.
“But I think we are already seeing EB Games change that mix of business and expanding their collectibles and novelties ranges.”
In January, Sanity warned customers that closures were on the way, with all its remaining stores at the time set for the chopping block but at its peak it had 200 stores across Australia.
In the past few months, the company has been offering massive bargains for punters, including a 75 per cent off storewide sale to get rid of the last of its products in its remaining stores.
Australians shared their sadness about the stores closing and the good memories they had provided.
“Always enjoyed Sanity and music stores like it (such as Arcadia Records and Tapes where I grew up in Hamilton). Alas, things have changed. Thankfully Dixon’s and other local second-hand record shops remain,” wrote one man.
“Kinda sad, I remember being a small kid shopping at sanity with my mum when I was like 5 in the city back in the early 2000’s. It was the only way to find music back then, as Shazam didn’t exist,” added another.
“It’s the end of an era. Shopping centres and malls won’t be the same,” shared one person.
The first Sanity-branded store opened in 1992 in Doncaster, Melbourne.
Its founder Brett Blundy had actually opened his first music store in 1980 under a different name. He was just 20 years old at the time.
In 2008, the company launched online music subscription service LoadIt but was scrapped months after its launch.
In 2009, the brand was sold to Mr Itaoui.
Originally published as Sanity closes down all its stores as next retailer to be impacted predicted
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