Sanity officially closes its doors and moves online

Sanity closed its final brick-and-mortar store yesterday, pivoting to online sales.

Eliza Bavin
·2-min read
The exterior of a Sanity store.
Sanity announced in January it would be closing its remaining stores. (Source: Power Retail)

Iconic music and entertainment store Sanity has officially shut its last two stores across the country, pivoting the business to online only.

While Aussies will still be able to order from Sanity online, the staple of the Aussie music industry will be missed by many.

Its last two stores, both based in Queensland, at Brisbane and Bundaberg, shut down over the weekend.

Sanity flagged closures were on the way in January. At its peak, there were more than 200 stores around the country.

Over the past few months, the company was offering massive bargains, including a 75 per cent off storewide sale to get rid of the last of its products in its remaining stores.

Sanity’s last store in Brisbane shut its doors forever at 4:00pm AEST sharp, according to The Music.

The downfall of Sanity stores

The first Sanity-branded store opened in 1992 in Doncaster, Melbourne. Its founder, Brett Blundy, was just 20 years old at the time. In 2009, the brand was sold to Ray Itaoui.

“The business prospered and remained successful for many years, thanks to the dedication and commitment of our entire team,” Itaoui said in a statement earlier this year.

“I would like to take the opportunity to acknowledge the Sanity team, past and present, and express my pride around their achievements, as well as thank them for their hard work, dedication, and relentless commitment to ensuring they exceeded customer-service expectations. Without this, Sanity would not have lasted as long as it has, and it’s this I am most proud of.”

Itaoui said the brand had little choice but to close its physical stores because of the way music consumption had changed.

“With our customers shifting to digital for their visual and music content consumption, and with diminishing physical content available to sell to our customers, it has made it impossible to continue with our physical stores,” Itaoui said.

“Our online business – sanity.com.au – will continue to operate, and will service the many loyal customers the brand has continued to be dedicated to over the decades.”

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