Patchwerks - Community hub & music store (COMPLETED)

Our Patchwerks community shares a common belief in the joy of electronic music

I’m Tom Butcher and, along with Cindy Reichel, we’re the owners and operators of Patchwerks, a community-focused synthesizer boutique with a Seattle showroom and worldwide presence online. It has been our pleasure and honor to help build and invest in our incredible community of synthesizer lovers both in our local Pacific Northwest scene and online across the world.

We’ve proudly watched as the community that developed around Patchwerks has grown through a shared passion for the joy and magic of electronic instruments. All of our staff feel so much gratitude when people come to our store to play, learn, and connect with each other. We’ve been so humbled by everyone who has come through our doors – whether you’ve been a first-time synth-curious explorer who trusted us to guide you, or whether you’ve been one of our own musical heroes who has consciously decided to purchase your instruments from an independently-owned and operated business.

Unfortunately, due to economic pressures beyond our control, the community we built at Patchwerks is at risk of losing its home… and we’re reaching out to ask for your help.

Patchwerks started from local grassroots meetups and grew to an international retail business

Patchwerks started with community meetups in 2015 with just a dozen people bringing their instruments to share. After a few months when meetups had grown to more than 200+ people, it became clear there was a need in Seattle, and we began sourcing and selling instruments at these meetups that were otherwise not locally available. By 2016, we were ready to open our tiny bedroom-sized showroom in the Eastlake neighborhood on the shores of Lake Union.

We operated there in what we lovingly termed our “synth shack” for five amazing years. Then the global pandemic of 2020 brought a ton of new demand as people around the world began using their time to work on creative projects and hobbies. In response, we grew our business to serve this surge.

In 2021, we were bursting at the seams in our Eastlake shack, so we moved to our current 2,500 square foot showroom on Stone Way – our first proper, dedicated retail location and a major step up. At our peak, we employed 18 full-time staff and grew our customer base, our online presence, and the impact we had with all of you. Unsatisfied with merely selling synths, we wanted to support and encourage the making of music as well, so we created a space for up-and-coming musicians to play in our showroom sessions and we regularly hosted educational workshops on a variety of topics from “Synthesizer 101” to “Mixing and Mastering Audio.”

Most recently, we partnered with Modular Seattle to bring you two editions of Velocity, a day-long synth extravaganza with headliners from around the world, local musician showcases, workshops, a trade show, and more. This community-building is at the core of our values at Patchwerks.

Beginning in 2022, like many companies around the world, we started to see our sales decline because of supply-chain issues related to the pandemic, macroeconomic pressures such as the threat of recession, interest rates raising, and more. We were forced to make the painful decision to lay off beloved staff that had become part of a family, and we also had to reduce our hours from being open every day to now just being open one day per week.

All the while, you – our customers – have kept coming through the doors, sticking around for a performance or workshop, learning about the gear and how to make music, and purchasing products that we have in stock from our depleted inventory. With your encouragement, we are doing everything we can to keep Patchwerks open.

Raising enough funds will help keep Patchwerks open

This GoFundMe is a campaign to inject enough cash into Patchwerks for us to survive and get back on track. We crunched the numbers and set a goal of raising $257,250 which is what we need to pay our suppliers and restock the products you’ve told us you want.

Even a donation for as little as $25 can help save Patchwerks

If we reach our goal, we’ll spend $150,000 reducing the debt to suppliers and consigners, and we’ll spend $100,000 on stocking the latest and greatest products. The last $7,250 would cover the costs of the GoFundMe campaign (each transaction per donation has an associated fee). If we can raise this amount, it will help us bridge the gap to a more sustainable operating model in line with current market conditions.

It would mean the world to us if you can help contribute to saving Patchwerks, supporting the community we’ve created. Please consider joining our GoFundMe campaign today!

Thank You

We want to thank everyone in our synth community far and wide, everyone who has shopped at Patchwerks before, everyone who has performed in our Velocity events and Showroom Sessions, and everyone who has been a part of the Patchwerks team whether as an employee, advisor, or volunteer. We can't do this without you!

-- Tom & Cindy