Cold Weather, Hot Bargains Holiday shoppers rush area stores in wee Friday morning hours

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Standing in bitter cold weather early Friday morning, Bangor-area shoppers had two things on their minds: hot bargains and hotter coffee.

Thousands got their deals when stores started opening at 5 a.m.

Dunkin’ Donuts on Hogan Road began serving coffee at 4:30 a.m., but many of the nearby shoppers, some in line for three hours at that point, didn’t want to leave their posts. The lure of “huge amounts off” was more tempting than having a hot cup in their hands spreading warmth over their chilled fingers.

A unique kind of person leaves the comforts of their home just hours after devouring Thanksgiving dinner to stand in the darkness and stare at the locked glass doors of large retail stores. For most shoppers, their last cup of coffee was gulped just before leaving home, and at the stores the bathrooms aren’t open either.

Some early risers call themselves “lunatics” for loving the thrill of saving money while most people in their right minds are still at home sleeping.

“We have to be crazy to be out here on this nice hot summer morning,” said Raylene Connor of Searsport, who along with friend Julie O’Brien of Searsport were No. 4 and 5 in line at Wal-Mart shortly after 2 a.m. Hundreds eventually trailed behind them through the parking lot, waiting for the doors to open at 6 a.m.

“We just think of someplace tropical,” added Lisa Hawksley of Bucksport. She was second in line after Angela Spencer of Hudson and before friend Sonya Lagross of Bangor.

Before the Wal-Mart shoppers queued up, six friends huddled at 1:30 a.m. in front of Best Buy awaiting their coveted prizes: $500 laptop computers that were half off regular price with no mail-in rebates, $70 20-inch television sets and $200 camcorders and computers.

Erik Rogers of Ellsworth and Joe St. Louis, Eric Bell, Adam Nichols, Mike Griggs and Melissa Farmer, all of Bangor, figured they were saving a combined $3,500 on their purchases by shopping at 6 a.m.

“You can sacrifice one day out of the year to do this,” Farmer said.

From $20 Video Now personal video players to $178 27-inch flat-screen televisions, electronics were among the hottest items on shopping lists, just like the last few years.

“People just don’t have enough of them,” said Wal-Mart manager Dale McMindes. “They’ve become almost disposable because of the awesome prices.”

In his Wal-Mart shopping cart, David Loring of Old Town had six $27.87 Symphonic DVD-CD players to be used as gifts for family members.

“Most of my family likes to play computer games, watch movies, things like that,” Loring said. “This is pretty good. Cheap too.”

At 4:45 a.m. at Target, Shirley Hopkins of Plymouth was first in line carrying a Ziploc bag that contained advertisement pictures of the gifts she needed to pick up throughout the morning, including one at Target.

“It’s something electronic I can tell you that,” said the great-grandmother as she motioned to her family, Destiny Hopkins and her daughter Megan, and Christina Hughes and her daughter Melanie, all of whom were sitting inside a warmed car.

Hopkins looked inside the plastic bag to remind herself what she needed to get – a $167 Kawasaki 8.4-inch personal DVD player with accessories.

What was lacking from most retailers this year was new, attention-getting products. Instead, old favorites were dressed in new packages or previous best sellers were sporting even lower prices. Miniature musical Care Bears, Ballerina Barbie, Dancing Dora the Explorer, My Little Pony and Leap Pads – all priced from two for $5 to $20. Children today want them as much as children did three years ago or even two decades ago.

“They’ve got to have the Disney,” said Debbie Cunningham of Eddington, who was buying pink Disney Princess items at Toys “R” Us. “My granddaughter and my daughter are pink to the bone!”

In her own way, so is 12-week-old Olivia Santorucito of Boston, who was adorned in a pink “Born To Shop” bib as she slept in her carrier while her parents, Eric and Lindsay, and grandmother Martha Higgins of Holden cruised Toys “R” Us looking for presents.

“We actually found wrapping paper at Wal-Mart that has ‘Olivia’ on it and it ain’t queer. It has bows on it,” Higgins said.

This year’s product selection, though, captures Stella Briel’s heart even if it is more of the familiar. As Wal-Mart’s overnight assistant manager, Briel helps unload pallets from tractor-trailers and opens boxes of merchandise and stocks shelves.

“It’s like Christmas every night because you get to see what’s new,” she said.

The presents being opened this holiday season may be old standards but they are new to the recipients – and the prices are right, Briel said. Now that the presidential election is over, people want to shop.

By 6:30 a.m., parking lots throughout the Bangor Mall area – from Jo-Ann Fabrics to Circuit City to Kmart – were full.

“People just have been holding off,” Briel said. “They were waiting to see who would be voted president and then figure out how the economy was doing. Everybody was holding out for those great prices, for today, and then they’ll finish off with the last-minute things.”

According to the National Retail Federation, total sales, excluding restaurant and automobile sales, are expected to increase 4.5 percent for November and December as compared to the same period last year. The anticipated gain isn’t as high as last year’s 5.1 percent increase over the previous year.

Krissy Leavitt of Hartland and Mary Girard of Pittsfield believe they are going to spend less money this year. That’s why they were the first to arrive at Bangor Mall for the 5 a.m. opening of KB Toys.

“If you don’t have a lot of money, this is when you go shopping,” Girard said. “This is when you get the deals.”

Leavitt and Girard sprinted to KB Toys when the mall doors opened at 5 a.m. to get their hands on $7.99 Namco Plug ‘N Play TV games and other bargains. The five-game console includes Pacman and plugs into television sets. Similar 2-pack Namco Plug ‘N Play TV game sets were selling for $20 at Wal-Mart. At both stores, they were flying from the shelves.

Leavitt and Girard said the adrenaline flows when they participate in what has become for them an annual day-after-Thanksgiving predawn shopping extravaganza.

“We’re just here for the thrill of it all,” Leavitt said. “It’s a rush. It’s just awesome.”

The same thrill was being experienced in Ellsworth, where holiday shoppers were packing into Wal-Mart, Renys, Marden’s and many of the local gift shops.

“We’re usually busy, but we don’t start out with a rush like we did this morning,” said Dan McAllian, store manager at Marden’s in Ellsworth. “And people are happy today. I don’t know why. That’s not always the case.”

Ann Bond of Corinna is stretching the thrill through the weekend. On Thursday night, Bond and three friends studied all of the newspaper advertisements and called each other when bargains were found. On Friday morning, Bond was second in line at Target, and after picking up what she wanted there, she was going to hook up with her friends. Then they were heading to Portland to shop at Old Navy and the Christmas Tree Shoppe, and from there they were going to New Hampshire where they had hotel reservations.

“We’re getting our hair done today too,” she said. “And if we have time, maybe a manicure too.”

The only treat that Bob Renshaw of Bangor was thinking about at 4:20 a.m. was coffee. Standing outside Best Buy, he told someone leaving the line that if they were coming back to bring some.

“Black is all right,” he said.

“Make mine with cream and sugar,” added Dave Lewis of Levant, who pulled his truck up near Best Buy’s door so his son Christopher could keep warm while they waited.

Outside Bangor Mall at 4 a.m., Celestia Honnell of Hudson had freshly brewed coffee from Dunkin Donuts – the one in Old Town.

“It’s open 24 hours a day,” she said.

Bangor Daily News coastal reporter Liz Chapman contributed to this report.