Solana Spaces stores in Manhattan and Miami did not spark customers’ interest in the Solana and Web3 ecosystem, being closed after 7 months of unfruitful operations

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Solana Spaces on Feb. 21 shared a note from its founder Vibhu Norby explaining the reasons behind the shutdowns of its physical stores in the US which didn’t onboard as many users as initially anticipated.

The two brick-and-mortar stores located in the Hudson Yards neighborhood of Manhattan and the Wynwood section of Miami were part of the broader Solana Spaces strategy to onboard more people into the Solana and Web3 ecosystem. The stores’ visitors could participate in various activities such as in-person wallet onboarding tutorials, earning rewards, shopping for Solana-themed merchandise and attending Web3 events.

Although they had decent foot traffic and managed to onboard between 500 and 1,000 people per week, funding this project has become too burdensome, considering the existing digital alternative. Namely, DRiP, which is a hub for Solana Spaces NFTs and loyalty rewards, onboards the same number of new clients each day.

Norby said the “experiment,” sponsored by the Solana Foundation, the Solana-based wallet provider Phantom and the native crypto exchange Orca, which started in?late July 2022 would wind up?at the end of February.

The ambitious initiative tested “new and disruptive models to bring people to Web3” in the physical environment. However, it didn’t bring satisfactory results, prompting the firm to redirect its investments to “a more efficient way to bring people into Solana”.

Initially, Solana Spaces envisioned that the stores would onboard about 100,000 people to Solana monthly. Yet, during the 7 months of operations, only 75,000 interested visitors crossed the stores’ thresholds. Less than half of them got onboarded.