Solana Shutting Down NYC And Miami Stores

The Solana-themed retail storefronts called Solana Spaces have announced that they are closing their brick-and-mortar storefronts in New York City and Miami. 

Solana Spaces Pivots To Web3

The Solana Spaces company is shutting down all its NYC and Miami-based storefronts to prepare for their move to the Web3 space. These brick-and-mortar stores were used to pitch the adoption of the Solana blockchain. According to the recent announcement, the company will close all these locations by the end of February 2023 as it will be pivoting to a more digital experience focusing on NFTs. 

CEO Vibhu Norby released a statement on Twitter, where he addressed the community, saying,

“We’ve made the difficult decision to sunset our stores in NYC and Miami by the end of February, and to pivot our Solana onboarding efforts into digital products like DRiP, our free NFT product with more than 100k sign-ups.” 

Rebranding As DRiP

In the letter addressed to the community, Noby also states that the company will rebrand itself as DRiP, which is already the name of the project’s boutique NFT distribution platform that used to be promoted at these stores. Noby claims in his letter that the startup had reached “an inflection point” in the last two months, which inspired the pivot into Web3. He explained that although the stores onboarded between 500 to 1000 people every week, DRiP could bring in the same numbers in a single day. 

He wrote, 

“Over the last 2 months, it became increasingly clear to me that we were at an inflection point with our stores and our digital products, and a few weeks ago we made the call to focus our ongoing efforts on DRiP. More to come on the plan for DRiP soon, including rebranding this Twitter account.”

What’s Next For Solana Spaces? 

CEO Noby launched the first Solana Space store in a mall at New York City’s Hudson Yards back in July 2022. Visitors would be guided through interactive modules where they were taught about different functionalities of the Solana blockchain, like setting up a crypto wallet, trading crypto on a decentralized exchange, and so on. A second shop was soon launched in August of that year in the Wynwood district, a creative and cultural hub in Miami. 

Talking about the end of the physical locations, Noby also revealed that the company would be open-sourcing both the software that powers Spaces and the brand. Furthermore, he invited members of the community to visit the stores during their last week for free merchandise, giveaways, and discounts. 

Disclaimer: This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.