Moog Music to move downtown

According to sources, Moog Music will purchase the long-vacant brick buildings at 170 Broadway — those located just north of the Interstate 240 overpass and across the street from the ABC liquor store — to house a retail location, museum and its famous factory.

While confirmation of the sale and further details would not be provided by Moog, a spokesman for Moog president Mike Adams did tell Xpress that an announcement of some kind will be made at 3 p.m. this Friday afternoon. Moog’s current operation is located at 2004 Riverside Drive, just north of the city.

The property housed “Dinner for the Earth,” Asheville’s first natural foods store, from 1979 to 1983 1993, and was recently sold to the Whiteside Fund of Cashiers, N.C., for $400,000.

Moog Music is known around the world for manufacturing musical instruments. The company was founded by Dr. Robert Moog, a pioneer in the industry, who is most famous for inventing the Moog synthesizer.

Jay Weatherly, owner of the Dripolator Coffee Shop (located just north of what will be Moog’s new location) was thrilled at the news: “Tapping into the deep roots of Asheville with one of the very things that makes Asheville so great. … It sounds like a perfect fit for that location,” Weatherly said.

SHARE

Thanks for reading through to the end…

We share your inclination to get the whole story. For the past 25 years, Xpress has been committed to in-depth, balanced reporting about the greater Asheville area. We want everyone to have access to our stories. That’s a big part of why we've never charged for the paper or put up a paywall.

We’re pretty sure that you know journalism faces big challenges these days. Advertising no longer pays the whole cost. Media outlets around the country are asking their readers to chip in. Xpress needs help, too. We hope you’ll consider signing up to be a member of Xpress. For as little as $5 a month — the cost of a craft beer or kombucha — you can help keep local journalism strong. It only takes a moment.

Before you comment

The comments section is here to provide a platform for civil dialogue on the issues we face together as a local community. Xpress is committed to offering this platform for all voices, but when the tone of the discussion gets nasty or strays off topic, we believe many people choose not to participate. Xpress editors are determined to moderate comments to ensure a constructive interchange is maintained. All comments judged not to be in keeping with the spirit of civil discourse will be removed and repeat violators will be banned. See here for our terms of service. Thank you for being part of this effort to promote respectful discussion.

9 thoughts on “Moog Music to move downtown

  1. Opps, I think that date is wrong…pretty sure Dinner for the Earth, was operating at this location into the 90s.

  2. I’m pretty sure they were operating at that location into at least the early ’90s. I didn’t move to Asheville until 1985 and they were definitely at the Broadway location then.

  3. and I think that Nothing But Natural, and maybe even the little health food store on Wall St., might have been before Dinner for the Earth.

  4. Michael Muller

    Indeed. My math was incorrect — Dinner for the Earth was at that location until 1993. Sorry about that!

    MM

  5. James Fisher

    Perfect use of those buildings! That stretch is really growing, getting active and this is a real anchor of the best kind – yeah Moog!

  6. Keith

    Dinner for the Earth moved to Westgate and became Earth Fare in the Summer of 1994. I was there hanging the aisle signs at 3:00 AM before opening day. Roger was my best man.

  7. Really appreciate seeing the rendering of the building. It’s going to be a great asset to Broadway corridor.

    With Greenlife / WFM, Pioneer Building (great job developers!), Moog, Health Adventure…what’s next?

Leave a Reply

To leave a reply you may Login with your Mountain Xpress account, connect socially or enter your name and e-mail. Your e-mail address will not be published. All fields are required.