Solana Spaces, a retail project founded by Solana (SOL) creator Anatoly Yakovenko and entrepreneur Michael Norby, will be shutting down its two community-oriented retail stores in New York City and Miami by the end of February. The stores, which were themed around SOL, were established to attract more people to the Solana ecosystem but have failed to attract as many users as they had hoped.

Solana Spaces had only been open for seven months since their official opening in July and August of 2022.

The announcement, shared on the Solana Spaces Twitter account, was accompanied by a note from founder Vibhu Norby who explained that the reason for the closure is because of an “inflection point” in which they are shifting their investment focus away from physical stores and into DRiP, a non-fungible token artwork airdrop platform.

https://twitter.com/solanaspaces/status/1628100995103494145?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1628100995103494145%7Ctwgr%5Ed243b7d7106f7ff45cbbc3ec8b7e51d2c7998ee3%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fcointelegraph.com%2Fnews%2Fsolana-spaces-will-close-new-york-and-miami-stores-7-months-after-opening

The stores were an “experiment” designed to serve the community on behalf of the Solana Foundation.

Norby, who founded Solana Spaces in early 2022, also revealed that the stores had onboarded an average of 500 to 1,000 people a week since their opening — but with DRiP they have the potential to onboard even more people into the SOL and Web3 ecosystem every day.

The decision to close the stores was made a few weeks ago, according to Norby, and the locations will “sunset” by the end of the month. The two stores had only been open since July and August, respectively.

The ambitious initiative was relatively short-lived, but it did appear to have won significant popularity and appreciation from SOL-native industry players such as videogame projects Star Atlas and Aurory.

Despite the closure, Norby remains optimistic about the future potential of DRiP:

“Our endowed mission from day one was to experiment with new and disruptive models to bring people to Web3, and to serve the community on behalf of the Solana Foundation. We can’t wait to see what DRiP brings.”

Norby has come to the realization that the company’s efforts may be better spent in the digital space, particularly with DRiP, to achieve better results. He also mentioned that as great as the stores were, they would direct their efforts towards a more efficient way to onboard people to SOL if they found one.

Solana Spaces: Experiment designed to attract more people to SOL

When the first New York store was opened in late July, Norby had hoped that it would attract over 100,000 people to SOL each month. However, only 75,000 people visited the stores over the course of their seven-month tenure.

Sponsored by the Solana Foundation, as well as wallet provider Phantom and the native crypto exchange Orca, Solana Spaces offered customers the chance to participate in various activities such as in-person wallet onboarding tutorials, earning rewards, shopping for merchandise, and attending events, all themed around SOL.

Although the retail stores didn’t work out as expected, they managed to gain a significant following. Many industry players native to SOL, including videogame projects Star Atlas and Aurory, thanked Solana Spaces for their contribution to the ecosystem.

https://twitter.com/staratlas/status/1628177716028620807?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1628177716028620807%7Ctwgr%5Efda05cf8e1cd0b1907d7a6b2171a1b2a626241b7%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fcointelegraph.com%2Fnews%2Fsolana-spaces-will-close-new-york-and-miami-stores-7-months-after-opening

The extended bear market in the crypto industry has led to many major companies laying off employees and shutting down offices worldwide. The closure of Solana Spaces’ physical stores is the latest example of this trend.

Our team visits Solana Spaces’ physical store before its closure

Our team from Crypto.ro had the opportunity to visit Solana Spaces’ physical store in New York City before its closure, which was a unique experience.

We were impressed by the variety of activities available to customers, such as in-person wallet onboarding tutorials, shopping for SOL-themed merchandise, and attending events. The store’s themed interior was eye-catching and displayed the Solana brand well. Also, the store’s staff were friendly and knowledgeable, making the experience all the more enjoyable.

Though it is sad news for fans of Solana Spaces, it appears that the team will be pushing ahead with DRiP. It will be interesting to see how this new initiative evolves and what impact it will have on the SOL and Web3 ecosystems in the near future.