Solana Spaces—Solana-themed retail storefronts—announced the closure of its company-owned and operated stores on Tuesday, another ambitious initiative frozen by the prolonged crypto winter.
“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,” according to the Solana Spaces Twitter account.
The following is a note from our founder, @vibhu.
Dear @solanaspaces community,
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… https://t.co/kjNu9Ay4Gk
— Solana Spaces (@solanaspaces) February 21, 2023
Last summer, Solana Spaces launched its first physical store in New York’s Hudson Yards. The store aimed to act as a Web3 onboarding space for newcomers, where Solana faithful could buy their favorite Solana branded merch.
Another store opened in August of that year in Miami’s Wynwood district, an area that is known for being a creative and cultural hub.
The Solana stores joined a growing list of IRL projects like Bored & Hungry, a Bored Ape Yacht Club-themed fast food restaurant based in Los Angeles.
“Realistically, we were a startup that was chasing a path,” Solana Spaces founder Vibhu Norby told Decrypt in an interview. “Obviously, like many founders had to make difficult decisions sometimes, and this was one of them.”
Echoing his statement on Twitter, Norby said the team found more efficient ways to onboard people from both a product and financial standpoint.
“I think the reality is that we could have kept them running, but it didn’t make as much
