Seattle-based Rad Power Bikes, former darling of the booming e-bike market, warned it could shut down amid slowing sales and the hangover of too-rapid growth during the pandemic.

The company, headquartered in Ballard, “may be forced to cease operations” after failing to find outside partners or funding, a spokesperson said in an emailed statement Monday. A notice filed Friday with the state said 64 Seattle-based workers would be laid off.

Rad Power, once North America’s biggest e-bike brand, is still searching for “other viable options to keep the Rad brand alive,” but warned employees in a letter that it could close Jan. 9.

Much of the global e-bike industry has struggled after surging pandemic demand led many companies to expand operations and stock up on inventory, only to see sales fall back.

Rad Power Bikes epitomized that rise and fall. Founded in 2007 by Mike Radenbaugh and Ty Collins, who met at college in California, the company almost single-handedly popularized electric bikes.

Using a direct-to-consumer model and imported components, Rad Power offered easy-to-use, affordable models when the emerging e-bike market was still much pricier.

In 2017, Rad Power expanded into Europe with operations in the Netherlands.

But Rad Power’s big growth would come after COVID-19 disrupted mass transit and, as The New York Times put it,“sent the whole country searching for a socially distanced way to get around.”

Sales surged in 2020 and 2021, even as supply chain snags meant customers had to wait months to get their bikes. In one case, Rad Power had to buy its own shipping containers and specially charter cargo freighters to get components from Asia and Europe.

Investors were smitten. Between February 2020 and October of 2021, the Rad Power company raised more than $300 million in investment, with much of that intended to reduce supply chain risks by expanding manufacturing outside of Asia. In 2021, the company was valued at $1.65 billion, according to GeekWire.

By early 2020, the company had 200 employees and had sold more than 100,000 bikes worldwide, according to Electrek, a trade journal covering electric transportation.

But as the pandemic sales surge tapered off, it was clear Rad Power had been too aggressive.

Rad Power “appeared to position itself for the kind of explosive growth it experienced during the pandemic but that waned in recent years,” said Micah Toll, who writes for Electrek, in an email Monday.

Rad Power was also hit by product recalls as well as lawsuits related to a battery fire and the death of an underage rider.

In 2022, Rad Power brought in a new CEO, shuttered its European office and started what would be a series of layoffs.

In March of this year, the company got yet another CEO — Kathi Lentzsch, who had served as CEO at Bartell Drugs before its 2020 sale to Rite Aid — and said it was shifting its emphasis from direct-to-consumer operations to brick-and-mortar retail. It currently has retail outlets in Seattle and eight other North American cities.

But Rad Power’s turnaround faced an uphill struggle.

Cutbacks slowed development of new bikes, especially “compared to the frequent product launches from Rad’s heyday,” Electrek’s Toll said.

And while demand for e-bikes has partly stabilized, Rad Power’s niche for affordable models now has a lot more competition, said Jim Finkle, service manager and vice president at Seattle Electric Bike.

The company’s struggles were widely known, Finkle said. When he heard that Rad Power was getting yet another CEO in March, “I thought either … they’ll sell the brand to someone, or they’re going to be gone altogether.”

In recent months, Rad Power sought new turnaround options, including partners that could either fund the company or acquire it outright. “Until recently, one such option seemed very promising and appeared to be likely to close,” the company said. “Unfortunately, that did not come to fruition.”

Rad Power hasn’t made any final decisions, the spokesperson said.

But the company said it wanted to be “transparent” to employees about the possibility of a closure.

On Monday morning, Rad Power appeared to be running Black Friday sales online. The Ballard showroom was open and a few customers were looking over models or dropping off bikes for service.

Among the latter was Seattle resident Barbara Bjeletich, who was dismayed to learn about the layoff notices and the possibility of a closure.

Bjeletich, 70, credited Rad Power with getting her back into biking. The retired nurse practitioner and instructor said she loved her bike and found the company’s service department friendly and easy to work with.

“I’ll be totally bummed if they close,” Bjeletich said.

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