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A little before 6 a.m. this Saturday, Bob Chaplin will make his way from his home on a quiet Bar Harbor side street to Paradis True Value Hardware, on Cottage Street. As he approaches downtown in the early-morning darkness, a surreal scene will surely greet him.
There won’t be a parking space in sight. There will, undoubtedly, be a line of customers in front of Window Panes, waiting for the boutique to open. And everyone, including Chaplin, will be dressed in pajamas, robes, nightgowns, slippers and stocking caps, looking for bargains at the town’s annual pajama party sale.
“It’s a nice gift to the community,” said Chaplin, an elementary schoolteacher. “What’s happened is everybody else has discovered it and they’re all coming to Bar Harbor, which is great for the merchants.”
Early to bed, early to rise, makes a shopper healthy, wealthy and wise at the sale, now in its 10th year. From 6 to 10 a.m. Saturday, shoppers will find significant discounts at downtown merchants – usually 20 to 25 percent – with an extra 5 percent off for PJ-clad bargain hunters.
“People are there at five in the morning,” said Gina Farnsworth, the events coordinator for the Bar Harbor Chamber of Commerce. “They come from Bangor, some from as far as Massachusetts. … We get calls starting in the middle of the summer.”
Just ask Susan Kelley of Southwest Harbor. She and a cousin in Bar Harbor have been busy preparing for the arrival of nearly 20 friends and relatives from Howland, Millinocket, Bangor and Portland. They have rented a house for the weekend, which will serve as their home base while they shop till they drop. For Kelley, it’s like a family reunion – with shopping.
“We have great food, we have a chance to get together the night before, then we go back and party again, Kelley said. “It’s a way for people in the area to celebrate the fact that the tourists are gone and we get the island to ourselves.”
For the merchants, it’s a way to stretch the season a little longer and encourage people to shop locally.
“It’s giving back to your local customer,” said Julie Veilleux, who owns three WindowPanes shops in town. “They have to put up with a lot of craziness and chaos during the season with the tourists.”
Several merchants see the sale as a way to raise funds and awareness for local charities. Wendy Scott, who owns Bark Harbor, donates 5 percent of the day’s sales to animal-welfare groups. At Willis and Sons jewelers, shoppers who bring a donation of money or nonperishable goods for the Bar Harbor Food Pantry will receive an extra 5 percent off, which can push the savings to as much as 40 percent off retail.
Islanders and people from away have come to view the event as an annual tradition. It has become so popular that a second sale, Midnight Madness, now caters to night owls from 8 p.m. to midnight on Dec. 10. But the pajamarama is still a local favorite. People from all walks of life shuffle downtown for the deals – this year, 35 businesses will participate – and the revelry.
Locals often scope out the shops the week before so they can plan their route accordingly. When the sale ends, shoppers head to the Village Green for an impromptu parade and a costume contest, in which creative dressers can win $50 to $100.
And the dressing gets creative. People pad downtown in animal slippers, with cold cream on their faces and curlers in their hair. Some men sport nightgowns and stocking caps. It’s not uncommon to see women with Pippi Longstocking braids, toting stuffed animals.
“It’s so crazy,” said one Bass Harbor woman who wished to remain anonymous. “They want to look just about as freakish as they can look. You should see the men – the men are worse than the women.”
Chaplin, at least, keeps his look fairly conservative – classic pajamas, but no slippers. When he started going to the sale 10 years ago, he saw the dress-up part as a challenge. But he figured he’d never see most of this stuff on sale otherwise, so he donned his PJs and soaked up the savings.
“Why not?” he said. “You can stretch your Christmas dollars a lot.”
Several years ago, he got a great deal on a Leatherman tool for his son. This year, he has his eye on a “Polar Express” gift pack at Sherman’s Book and Stationery Shop. He loves the bargains, but he loves the sense of camaraderie that the pajama sale fosters even more.
“It is a gift, a chance to purchase some really nice things that are on sale,” Chaplin said. “But there’s more to it than that. It’s the sociability. You get to see your friends out there. It’s a really nice event. It helps the spirit of the community.”
Kristen Andresen can be reached at 990-8287 and kandresen@bangordailynews.net.
Bar Harbor Pajama Party Sale
Where: Downtown Bar Harbor
When: 6 -10 a.m. Saturday
Information: 288-5103 or barharborinfo.com
Participating businesses
Abbe Museum
Acadia Park Wear
The Acadia Shops
Alternative Market
Aquaterra Adventures
Art and Soul
Bar Harbor Hemporium
Bar Harbor Whale Museum
Bar Harbor Whale Watch
Bark Harbor
Ben and Bill’s Chocolate Emporium
Cadillac Mountain Sports
Christmas Spirit Shop
Claire de Loon
Cromwell Harbor Motel
The Cubby Hole
Domus Isle
Evergreen Pottery Gallery
Geddy’s Down Under
Get Clocked
Gladstone’s Under the Sun
The Happy Clam
Island Artisans
Kyle’s Keep
Leapin’ Lizard
Mount Desert Islander
The Music Bar
Our New England
Paradis True Value Hardware
Pretty Marsh Gallery
Scrimshaw
Sherman’s Book and Stationery Shop
The Village Emporium
Willis and Sons
Window Panes Bath and Body
Window Panes Home and Garden
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