The new store had roughly 400 crypto-interested visitors on opening day and it expects to host even more as additional locations are opened throughout the United States and the rest of the world.
The first Solana Spaces store debuted on Thursday in the posh Hudson Yards New York shopping complex thanks to a donation from the Solana Foundation. “The world’s first permanent physical retail, educational, and communal facility dedicated to Web3” is how the business describes itself.
CEO of Solana Spaces Vibhu Norby stated that the new physical Solana stores will introduce the Solana ecosystem to up to 100,000 people each month and hinted at intentions to create a virtual storefront soon.
On the day of the store’s launch, Norby addressed the community in an unscheduled Twitter AMA, explaining that the store’s purpose is to instruct new users on how to use decentralized applications (DApps) and that it will be exposing thousands of individuals to the Solana blockchain:
“I don’t think people realize this but we’re going to bring 50 to 100,000 people into Solana every month through these stores — and that’s just this year.”
Norby made a hint that in addition to other physical stores, a virtual store was also being developed. Additionally, he stated that in the future, the store hoped to open branches in all countries.
According to the Solana Spaces website, you can learn about Solana (and set up your Phantom wallet) at their locations, as well as about “DeFi, NFTs, games and a variety of Solana projects to earn immediate rewards” (Orca can “teach you to trade & learn about STEPN, a play-to-earn game built on Solana”), immerse yourself in their Solana blockchain visualizer and NFT gallery, discover other projects in the Solana ecosytem.
Solana is now extending network connections with the opening of the new store. The introduction of physical retailers like Solana Spaces will boost sales of the Saga, a new Android smartphone from Solana Labs.