SANITY Music retailer to close last remaining stores

One of Australia’s most enduring retailers, Sanity, has announced it will close its 50 remaining stores by April this year.

Sanity owner Ray Itaoui confirmed the news on Wednesday, stating the company would only operate online after their brick-and-mortar stores closed their doors.

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

Founded in 1980, Sanity operated more than 200 stores across the country at its peak.

When Itaoui bought the company from founder Brett Blundy in 2010, vinyl and CD music sales were worth $367m a year, according to market and consumer data analyst Statista.

That figure has steadily declined year on year ever since. In 2020, $480m was generated through the sale of digital music in Australia, while analog equivalents had plummeted to just $62m, a decline of more than 80% over the preceding decade.

Reflecting on the closures, Mr Itaoui said the company had much to be proud of. “With Brett Blundy building Sanity from the ground up in 1980 – going on to become one of Australia’s most respected and recognisable retailers – the Sanity brand became synonymous with the go-to place to get anything that mattered in the world of music: from vinyl, to CDs and DVDs, hardware, accessories, and of course face to face advice on everything musical.”

“The business prospered and remained successful for many years, thanks to the dedication and commitment of our entire team,” he added. “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.”

Sanity has announced it will close its 50 remaining stores by then end of April this year. Sanity will continue to operate online at www.sanity.com.au