Solana Spaces CEO Vibhu Norby said the new physical Solana stores will introduce up to 100,000 people per month to the Solana ecosystem, while also signalling plans to open a virtual storefront in the near future.
Utilizing a grant from the Solana Foundation, the first Solana Spaces shop opened in the swanky Hudson Yards New York shopping center on July 28.
Addressing the community in a impromptu Twitter AMA on launch day, Norby explained the store is meant to teach new users about how to use Dapps, and noted that it would be introducing thousands of people into 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.”
Speaking to Cointelegraph in a phone interview following the AMA, Norby said the shop had 400 visitors, hinting also that new U.S.-based physical stores were in the works, and that “the store was designed for people who are brand new to blockchain.”
Solana (SOL) is home to over a thousand decentralized apps (Dapps) ranging from trading platforms, gaming, and nonfungible tokens (NFTs) to social media.
While it is technically a store that sells a limited series of Solana-based merchandise, it mainly serves as a retail-as-a-service tutorial hub where new users receive free instructional sessions on how to set up a crypto wallet and connect to various Dapps.
“It's not a store designed to be a place where you buy things. It's a store designed to be an educational experience. We do sell merch, Solana socks and hoodies and other fun things, but that isn't the main point of it.”
Retail-as-a-service refers to stores that serve as showrooms for the products that customers can buy online. This encourages demonstration of the products and reduces the inventory requirements.
Norby added that the people who will get the most of the shop are those who have little to no exposure to blockchain. He said that half of the patrons who visited on launch day either had some exposure to Ether (ETH) or Bitcoin (BTC), or had no idea what any of it was. He said:
“You don't need to be here unless you want the sick merch. If you are trading NFTs full time, there's only so much value we can offer.”
So far, shoppers have reacted positively to the new shop. Reciprocal VC partner Craig Burel called it “pretty epic” in a Twitter post on July 28, echoing the impressions of other shoppers.
The Solana Foundation helped fund the launch of the shop with a grant, but each tutorial is sponsored by a project running on the blockchain. Notably Stepn, Orca, Solana Pay, Metaplex, and Magic Eden are currently hosting tutorials at the shop. Customers receive an NFT for completing a tutorial.
While Solana Spaces launched its first branch on Thursday, Norby hinted that a virtual store was also in development along with other physical stores. He also added that he eventually wanted stores in every country around the world.
Related: Solana said to be ‘more decentralized than people think,’ but there’s more
Solana is in the process of expanding accessibility to its network through the new store and a new Android mobile device called the Saga. Cointelegraph reported on June 24 that reactions to the new phone were generally positive, with one person even calling Web3’s “iPhone moment.”
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