BlocksInform
Solana-themed retail outlets, known as solana spaces, announced they were closing their stores in New York and Miami.
Solana revolving spaces. 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 traditional stores have been used to promote Solana blockchain adoption. As announced recently, The company will close all of these sites by the end of February 2023 as it moves toward a more digital NFT experience.
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 states in its letter that the startup had reached "a turning point" in the last two months, which inspired the pivot to web3. He explained that although stores board between 500 and 1000 people every week, drop by drop could bring the same figures in one 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 information will follow in the near future on the DRiP plan, including the image change of this Twitter account."
How do you see Solana Spaces moving forward?
Noby launched Solana's first space store in a shopping mall in New York in July 2022. Visitors would be guided through interactive modules to learn about the various features of the solana blockchain, For example, developing a crypto portfolio, crypto trading on a distributed exchange, and that kind of stuff. A second boutique was soon launched in August of the same year in the Wynwood neighborhood, a creative and cultural center in Miami.
Speaking of the end of physical sites, noby also revealed that the company would be open-sourcing at the same time the software that feeds the spaces and the brand. In addition, he invited community members to visit the stores during their final week for free merchandise, gifts and rebates.
