Dedicated employees are mourning the closure of music and video chain Sanity, with an ex-manager revealing he loved the store so much he even completed a shift after surviving a heart attack – before checking himself into a hospital.
Sanity’s last two stores closed on March 27, prompting hundreds of employees and thousands of customers to share their memories of the store floor.
Those employees can now freely reflect on their time since the non-disclosure agreement (NDA) that CEO Ray Itaoui enforced against the workforce on Jan. 4 ended with the closure of all 50 stores.
Nick White, a “Sanity nerd” and former manager of two of the country’s top-performing stores, gave a moving eulogy online after “a life-changing 10 years” with the company.
Nick White (pictured), a “Sanity nerd” and former executive, gave a loving eulogy online after “a life-changing 10 years” at the company
Former employees now have nothing left but mementos and name tags as the physical store went online
After nearly a decade with the company, Mr. White said he is grateful for the relationships and opportunities his time at the store provided.
“I moved to the highway, I visited and helped out in a few different stores, I even survived a heart attack and went to work the next day before hospitalizing myself.
And it was all worth it.
“I’m also proud to say that I gave it my all every day to deliver on the Sanity Customer Promise posted in every store.”
The Sanity Customer Promise stated that the staff will always satisfy the customer – whether it’s figuring out what movie a scene is from or finding the song a particular line comes from.
Other staffers left Sanity with a mixed opinion of the retailer.
A former employee, who wanted to use the pseudonym Bruce because of his non-disclosure agreement, told Daily Mail Australia that while the staff were great, it wasn’t always sunshine and rainbows.
“We heard about the closures the same day as everyone else,” Bruce said.
“Channel Nine had already called my boss for Ray [Itaoui] even sent the NDA email.”
All employees were under non-disclosure agreements as part of their employment contracts, which Mr Itaoui reiterated by email on January 4 after the shutdown was announced.
“Fortunately, they trusted their gut and told reporters they couldn’t talk about it or it would have been a bad day,” she said.
Some employees found it most difficult to say goodbye to the regular customers, whom some employees saw as good friends with whom to talk about pop culture.
The Sanity Customer Promise says that the staff will always satisfy the customer – finding out what movie a scene is from or finding the song a particular line is from
Sanity announced it would close all of its physical stores on January 4 (Photo: Sanity employees in Mount Gambier, SA)
During the last few trading weeks, the stores went through sales phases, starting with 50 percent off and going up to 75 percent off.
Bruce said the staggering number of customers rushing through the store to grab a bargain made the time fly by, with people waiting in line for “literally two hours.”
“Some customers just came in and talked about their favorite show all day long, which was nice when we weren’t busy,” said Bruce.
“They pretended to pre-order something as a pretext so they could talk about other shows, or give us recommendations of things to watch or listen to.
“You could tell they lost a big chunk of their lives by not getting a chance to come to the store and browse stuff on the shelf.”
The CD and DVD store closed the doors of the last two physical stores in Queensland’s Browns Plains, in the south of Brisbane, and in Bundaberg, in the north of the state, on Sunday.
Common sense was a staple of most Aussie malls for over 40 years, with over 200 storefronts nationwide at its peak.
Sanity (above) closed its last two stores in South Brisbane and Bundaberg on Sunday after more than 40 years of operation
Mr Itaoui said the shift in strategy was led by consumers’ recent preference to move from physical media to digital downloads