Moog Music Closes Factory Store After 13 Years

Moog Music announced today that it has closed the Moog Store in Asheville, NC.

For the last 13 years, the Moog factory and its store have been a sort of ‘Mecca for synthesists’. The location was a destination for electronic musicians, who could see and play Moog’s entire synth lineup there or go behind the scenes and take a tour of the factory.

Today’s announcement has been expected for a long time.

In June 2023, Moog was acquired by InMusic. Earlier this year, Moog announced that it was moving from its 160 Broadway Street location in Asheville, marking the end of an era.

Since then, Moog has moved much of its manufacturing overseas, and moved remaining US manufacturing to a smaller facility in NC. It’s also moved product design, development, and engineering to a new location in Asheville.

While the Broadway Street location doesn’t have the historical significance of some of Moog’s earlier locations, it is the location that many associate with the company. The building was the home of the company during its modern creative peak, where it introduced instruments like the Mother-32, Subharmonicon, DFAM, Grandmother, Matriarch, Animoog, the Claravox Centennial Theremin, their modular reissues and more.

Here’s Moog’s official statement:

“Since opening in 2011, the Moog Store has served as a public portal to the Moog factory, inviting passionate synthesists to come inside and experience the sonic capabilities of Moog first-hand, as well as have access to new electronic instruments and devices in person. Containing 60 years of revolutionary synthesizer technology, the Moog Store has been a destination for those who wish to create, explore, and be inspired.

As we prepare for the next chapter of Moog Music, the Moog Store will be closing its doors. Our factory will remain open, and our talented engineers will still be in there, hand-crafting the instruments that define us. Our shift away from brick-and-mortar sales allows us greater bandwidth to focus on researching and developing the next generation of synthesizers and support more classic Moog releases.

To those who have visited the store to explore our instruments, participate in our workshops and factory tours, and engage with our engineers and designers, we have the utmost gratitude.

We encourage everyone to visit the Moogseum in downtown Asheville at 56 Broadway Street where Bob Moog’s legacy is carried forward through education and archive preservation. We too are committed to his legacy of innovation and excellence and look forward to sharing the work we have been doing with you all soon.”

27 thoughts on “Moog Music Closes Factory Store After 13 Years”

    1. Typical MAGA newspeak.

      And it was 6 years ago, not 4. Moog said at the time that Trump’s tax would increase their costs 25%, and force them to raise prices or move their manufacturing overseas.

      And….. that’s exactly what ended up happening.

      Forget facts and basic economics, though. The MAGA faithful will blame it on a) Moog being too ‘woke’; or b) Greedy employees unionizing.

      It’s only been in the last year that the synth industry – and really global manufacturing in general – has un-fucked itself from the Trump era. US manufacturing was a big casualty.

    2. Er…. sorry to be a pain in the ass, but Trump left power in 2021.. So, if Biden has held the reins for the last near 4 years, then how is it Trumps fault?

      I mean seriously, Biden has been in financial control of the USA for near four years, yet the that something happens at the end of a Four year finaicial regime with Binden in command, and yet its nothing to do with him.

      The Rate of inflation when powers transferred from Trump to Biden was 1.4%, and with a peak of 9% of infation and an overall raise in the cost of groceries alone where $100 now costs you $120, basically a flat 20% rate of increase in cost of living, I assume that means a raise in general costs of 20% over the last four years, and yet its Trumps fault..

      Im no economist, but I think that the question of in the cost of living and Tax laws etc, cannot be Trumps issue as Biden has had four years to change it, the question on the debate resulted in Biden fading across several subjects landing with “we beat medicare” and a blank stare with silence and with flat line sound of brianwaves moment….

      Maybe that fiscal financial responsibility had a lot to do with it..

      1. lol – You mention that you’re no economist, and it’s apparent from your comment. You left out that unemployment peaked at close to 25% under Trump, the highest in modern history.

        It’s a basic economic fact that prices go down when unemployment goes up, because nobody has money to buy anything. This is what happend at the end of Trump’s presidency. It’s called “supply and demand”.

        Prices also go up when employment goes up, because everybody is working and has money to buy things. This is what’s happened under Biden.

        https://www.vox.com/politics/356775/trump-biden-debate-truth-about-biden-record

        1. 25% unemployment, the highest in modern history? Maybe that’s when millions of people couldn’t go to work because of the Covid Pandemic.

          “Prices also go up when employment goes up, because everybody is working and has money to buy things. This is what’s happened under Biden.” No, prices have gone up because of the failure of “Bidenomics,” and everyone with an ounce of objectivity knows it.

          https://americansforprosperity.org/blog/why-is-everything-so-expensive-blame-bidenomics-for-inflation/

          Even CNN has called Biden out regarding his claims on the level of inflation when he took office:

          https://www.cnn.com/2024/05/14/politics/fact-check-biden-inflation-when-he-became-president/index.html

          When inflation/costs are high, people tend to not buy “toys.” For many, synths are a hobby. When people are paying a lot more to make it in life, they tend to not buy pricey items for a hobby. Moog synths were/are expensive to begin with, and it stands to reason that makers of what are essentially luxury goods tend to see sales diminish during a time of high inflation. Is this the case with Moog? Have their sales diminished the last few years? Good or bad, synths are like any other commodity; competition has killed many businesses or compelled them to move overseas to stay afloat and/or maximize profits.

          There are reasons that most synths are made in China. The PolyBrute 6 and 12 are made in China. A number of Korg and Roland synths are made in China. The ASM Hydrasynth is made in China by a Chinese company. Every Behringer Synth is made in China. I looked it up, as mentioned in these comments, Sequential and Oberheim PCBs and other parts are manufactured in China and then shipped to California where the synths are assembled. This was new to me. Moog synths are also made using Chinese parts, and this was well before Trump or Biden. Synths are like your television. You can’t get one that’s entirely made in the USA.

          1. TimS – Supply and demand are the foundation of economics, and Trumpers either don’t understand basic economics or they don’t want you to.

            Supply of everything went down under Trump, because of the record high unemployment. People were not working, so things weren’t getting made.

            When Biden came in, he pumped a bunch of money into the economy got people working again, resulting in record low unemployment.

            The combination these two things means that people want to buy things, but there’s a scarcity of goods.

            The result, inevitably, is that prices have gone up. It’s basic economics.

            If you pretend this is a Trump or Biden thing, you’re just showcasing your ignorance to the world. It’s the combination.

        1. There are no affordable PCB manufacturing and assembly plants in the USA, nor are any of the components that go on the PCBs made in the US.

          Doing final assembly in really expensive sheet metal and wood cases is about the limit of what’s possible in North America. We simply don’t have the manufacturing base or cheap labor to compete with China, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam.

          And, no, investing billions of dollars in chip plants will not change the situation. That ship has sailed.

  4. And this is why most of the world dislikes Americans.
    You’re so self absorbed that you can’t see outside your own country.
    No comments about Moog, just silly internal politics.
    Don’t even get me started on the East / West coast stuff. It’s called SUBTRACTIVE or ADDITIVE.
    You know, loads of great and innovative stuff got made all around the world by all sorts of people. Not just Moog and Buchla.

    1. ‘West Coast’ has nothing to do with additive synthesis. That’s a common misconception of people that don’t understand basic synthesis concepts or don’t have experience with Buchla synths.

      West Coast’ synthesis is subtractive synthesis – Buchla just took a different approach than Moog.

  5. Well. That devolved quickly, eh?

    I came here to commiserate with friends and fellow enthusiasts, not get stuck in yet another political smear campaign. Let’s be divided over who’s got the sweetest sounding filter, not over Republicrats and Democans.

  7. Clearly math and facts are not your strong suit…if you think things are SO much better in 2024 versus 2019. You must live in alternate universe.

    Try and pay attention… Trump if FOR US manufacturing. The Globalists (dems and republican uniparty) are for continued offshoring to save $.

    Cumulative effects of inflation and overwhelming $10 trillion in new debt being funded at higher rates notwithstanding, the change in household net worth under Joe is ugly.

    https://x.com/realBradBrewer/status/1805798373741506654/photo/1

  8. I was in NC when the store opened…nothing magical about it or anything special about customer service. It was like being in a guitar center but smaller and for synths…prices were off the fawkin roof……again nothing magical about it….hope they can thrive manufacturing offshore though.

    Go hornets nonetheless!

    1. Yup. Went there with a friend who was going for the first time and had the energy of a kid going to Disney. They werent making tours for some reason and thought the prices were going to be a tiny bit lower since you are basically buying off the factory but no, same as Sweetwater so it was actually cheaper to buy online and have it delivered than going all the way to NC. It was not a terrible experience but for sure very very disappointing.

  9. This is such a bummer. Did inmusic also purchase moog’s auto suspension parts manufacturing company or will they remain seperate?

  10. When a company that sells consumer products can’t afford to keep open a small showroom that showcases (generally) one of each of the company’s products, That’s not a great sign, but it doesn’t necessarily mean the company is going down the tubes. Sometimes it just means the company doesn’t know how to do retail – and doesn’t want to invest the resources to learn.

  12. There are no affordable PCB manufacturing and assembly plants in the USA, nor are any of the components that go on the PCBs made in the US.

    Doing final assembly in really expensive sheet metal and wood cases is about the limit of what’s possible in North America. We simply don’t have the manufacturing base or cheap labor to compete with China, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam.

    And, no, investing billions of dollars in chip plants will not change the situation. That ship has sailed.

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