Hello Sifted reader,

There was more unsettling news for customers of e-bike company VanMoof at the end of last week, as we'll get into in a moment. Also on the agenda today:

VanMoof stores shut across Europe

Less than two weeks after Dutch e-bike company VanMoof was declared bankrupt in the Netherlands, its London store in Battersea has been repossessed by landlords.

Elsewhere in Europe, the lights have gone out at VanMoof stores in the Netherlands, Paris and a number of cities in Germany, leaving many customers in the dark about the future of their $4,000 bikes.

Sifted understands that VanMoof customers with bikes at the London store haven't received any communication from the company about the repossession. Word has instead been spreading via word of mouth and on social media.

“VanMoof have done nothing to help," says one customer, who only found out about the repossession after a stranger messaged him online.

So what happens now?

A piece of paper stuck in the shop window in London says customers have until 5pm on August 3 to claim their bikes.
If they don't, the landlords “intend to sell the goods or otherwise dispose of them in an appropriate manner without further notice”.

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