Seattle, WA synth store Patchwerks has permanently closed.
They shared the following message on their site:
“It has been an incredible ride. We created Patchwerks to make a “third place” away from home and the office that was a safe space for people who wanted to explore making sounds and music with synthesizers.
We started with our meetups in 2016 and grew from there to a little shack off Eastlake Avenue. Then, we outgrew that space and had a shot at a large, beautiful showroom. It was a risk, but we took it. There we had an amazing time building out the store, investing in the community, hosting shows, and more.
We encountered plenty of difficulties in the last few years, and unfortunately now is the time to close the book on our journey.
Having said that, it has been an honor to share our love of synthesizers, music, noise, and community with you all. Keep exploring and keep making sounds. We wish everyone well for what’s next.”
Not a single comment? Dang, that’s cold.
Bought my first hardware synth in person at patchwerks a korg minilogue. Several years and thousands of dollars later I’m not sure if I should thank them or curse them 🙂 It was a great space and a great community and it will be missed. I wish them luck. A sad blow to the Seattle music community.
It’s going to re-open as a sewing shop.
once again the sad proof that in the enormous world of all music, electronic music is barely the size of a pin head,,a really small pin head.. its ok.
Looks like it was a beautiful store, but I suspect it’s a really tough business to be in. We’ve lost several online/hybrid retailers in the UK recently too. Sad.?
Which one? Most the ones I’ve used are still going
The second hand market for euro is insanely good
I’d guess that factors in somewhere too
Man, I live in Chicago and have bought tons of stuff from their website. Huge bummer to see them close ? they always had the niche stuff no one else had for eurorack… rip
I suppose the tariffs can’t have helped.
The tariffs are bad for most businesses, but really the last 5 years have been tough on small business in the US, between the pandemic and the ensuing changes to people’s behavior and spending.
Yes, it used to be on Reverb pre COVID I could list basically anything and it would be gone quick, since COVID, almost anything I lost will struggle, unless I undercut the rest of the sellers by a good amount.
My guess is since all that money printing during the pandemic, everything has been inflated except our wages, so we have a much lower standard of living now than we did pre COVID, hobbies are one of the first things that funds will be cut back from when money gets tight. Without raising minimum wage to at least 30 dollars an hour, then tying it to inflation permanently, we are cooked. Also, abolish the tipping culture and make it 30 bucks across all jobs.
I’ve been a customer there a few times. The staff were friendly, but there seemed to be more employees than were necessary for the amount of customers who were in the store. The store was relatively large and things were spread out so it didn’t look crammed. Maybe the rent was way too high and they could have had a smaller store in a different location? Maybe sales are down in general for hardware synths? Over a year ago I sold all my hardware and now just use software. I am happy with this arrangement after 20 years of using solely hardware.
I’m not really surprised. Eurorack stores I’ve seen around EU and UK are like two man operations with a tiny floor space for demo gear. They rely mostly on online sales. Maybe Schneider’s in Berlin being the exception due to how well located and well known it is. It’s obvs not very sustainable to run an operation as big as patchwerks on euro and synth sales alone.
Its a loss to the overall creative community when positive nodes like Patchwerks get shuttered. Sad & mad, here. Fringe specialty businesses are especialy vulnerable to the persistent damages of COVID and the increasingly politically-motivated hands around the world’s throat. Disposable income becomes more of a memory. Synth shops seemed relatively healthy for quite a while, but they’re canaries in coal mines now. When the small but steady places begin to fold, I suspect larger ones will follow. Sam Ash is one example.
One possible fix: dip 1/2 of all sitting politicians in tuna oil and then into a killer whale pod. Show that video to the other half and watch things brighten considerably overnight. I can see it now: Discovery channel presents “Human Gummies For Orcas,” hosted by Iggy Pop.
It’s a free market. If people didn’t want to see sad closures of stores like this, then they would spend their money at places like these in order to keep them in business,…
Right. I bet a lot of people would go there, try stuff out and then go online and seek out the best 15% off coupon they can find.
> “… free market”
“I do not think that means what you think it means” — Inigo Montoya
The closure of another artsy commercial venture tells me that musicians have to organise our own gigs. We need to use our own homes as a jam space, or share space with churches and community centres. Musicians and artists have a gift, and we have a higher calling to share with like minded friends.
Bro this was how musicians got instruments, it was a musical instrument store. How are we making music in those venues without instruments. Apples and oranges
This is sad news. I don’t live in Seattle any longer, but I was there when Patchwerks first sprung into existence and watched them grow from a niche mostly modular focused boutique into a bigger more everything for everyone synthesizer shop. Unfortunately, they had the misfortune of trying to get too big too fast at one of the most economically precarious times in Seattle’s recent history. The COVID bump everyone got led to the post-covid crash and moving and expanding as rapidly as they did in that period was a recipe for disaster. I wish they’d have found a way to contract back into something more sustainable, but with the current situation as it is, I think it’s going to be stories like this more and more frequently. RIP.
This extremely sucks. This store was one of the cornerstones of the synth popularity expansion on the west coast over the last 10 years. Really behind control voltage, because that’s the only synth speciality store left in the pnw
Seattle crime is killing businesses of all kinds. Of course companies like Patchwerks isn’t going to mention that though.