We can’t remember how long we’ve been waiting for that American Apparel store a block from our Grant Avenue office to open (yet another store opening delay?). Nor can we recall the last time we didn’t see a giant sale sign splashed across a boutique window (paying retail no longer seems to be an option these days). As yet another sign of the troubling times, SF-based online retailer Maneater Threads is closing its virtual doors at the end of the month. Founded by NoPa resident Tanya Zilinskas in 2005, the women’s wear business, which focuses on selling casual- and formalwear by such under-the-radar designers as Project Runway alumni Rami Kashou and Kara Janx, will start clearing out merchandise starting Friday with part one of its going-out-of-business sale. Head to Maneater’s South Beach headquarters for pieces by Nu Collective, YFB, Laila Azhar, Mike & Chris, and more, priced between 30 to 80 percent off retail. (If you miss it, Zilinskas hosts part two of the sale on Jan. 23).

But it’s not all doom and gloom for the local style hound. Zilinskas says she plans to launch a fashion editorial and personal styling web site, fashionorbit.com, by February, and she’s already got her sites on opening a bricks-and-mortar storefront with business partner Sarah Haggberg at the end of the year featuring equestrian gear and clothing. “We’re looking to open up a concept that San Francisco doesn’t already have,” she says. “Well, as soon as the economy calms down.”

Maneater Threads Closing Sale will be held from 4 to 6:30 p.m. on Friday and 4 to 6:30 p.m. on Jan. 23 at 101 Townsend St., Suite 302, 415-777-1488, rsvp to customerservice@maneaterthreads.com