AJ’s Place replaces Sanity in Rose City Shoppingworld as the last DVD store in Warwick

A Warwick business owner has revealed how he plans to turn the corner against the tide of digital media after taking over the location of the town’s former Sanity store.

Jeffry Clark at AJ's Place(Photo: Warwick Daily News)

Despite the proliferation of streaming services covering music to movies and everything in between, a Warwick businessman is hoping that the last DVD store in the city can reverse the digital media trend.

Promising to be the go-to destination for movies, music and memorabilia, Warwick businessman and former Video Ezy and Network Video owner Jeff Clark has opened a new store, AJ’s Place, and has got some big plans for the future.

Located at Rose City Shoppingworld and replacing the former location of Sanity, the opening comes mere months after Sanity announced it would be closing all physical locations across the country after decades of being a prominent media retailer.

However, unlike the former store, the family-owned local business promises to continue to branch out to ensure they provide more than physical media by including bundles, merchandise and printing.

Mr Clark said following its grand opening on Monday, business had been good and locals were receptive of having physical media and everything in between available in a one-stop location.

Jeff Clark at AJ's Place (Photo: Warwick Daily News)

“We know a lot less people are buying movies and TV series (physically) with streaming coming in but one of the biggest things we’ve found is to watch ‘everything’ you’re paying more than $100 a month for all the streaming services,” Mr Clark said.

“There’s still a need for it, especially in Warwick, where we’ve got a lot of customers that come in that don’t have proper internet if they’re just out of town and prefer the physical media- there is still a big need for it in this town.

“It’s a shame Sanity had to shut down nationally, at a local level they were doing quite well, so we had a real opportunity.”

AJ's Place is adamant that while businesses like Sanity crumbled nationally, Warwick is the perfect place to start the business as they are receptive for physical media (Photo: Warwick Daily News)

Mr Clark, who runs the online business What the Pop, focusing on pop-culture merchandise and prints alongside daughter Alanna, a former worker of Sanity Warwick, say between the two of them they have all the expertise on what residents want and can selectively order in without having to worry about overstocking.

“Locally we know what people really want and can get it in, rather than getting it in across 60 stores (like Sanity),” Mr Clark said.

“This town is a real opportunity, and there is still a need for it, and that’s why we branched out and have provided extra things like T-shirts and memorabilia, because we can’t just focus on the media these days but all the items that go along with it.”

AJ’s Place have some big plans for the future too, while they’ve currently got the former Sanity location, they’re planning on moving to a bigger location mid-year.

AJ's Place Jeff Clark said it's important to brand out into various forms of merchandise and services to stay relevant in the age of digital media (Photo: Warwick Daily News)

The business will move to a bigger location on Guy St, where they will have much more space for their collection of media and merch and be able to throw events.

“There’s a huge Dungeons and Dragons community in town, and we’re excited to get a few tables in and host those games when we have the bigger store,” he said.

“We’ve had a lot of foot traffic since opening and people keep telling us they're really glad we’re still here and there’s been a lot of support from shoppers.”

AJ’s Place will be open for three months at the current location in Rose City Shoppingworld before expanding to a larger location on Guy St.

Originally published as AJ’s Place replaces Sanity in Rose City Shoppingworld as the last DVD store in Warwick