ELLSWORTH – Despite some bad weather and the discount lure of large-volume stores, downtown merchants reported that a robust shopping weekend kicked off the holiday sales season.

“Saturday was good, really good, but Friday … wasn’t stellar,” Kristie Billings, owner of Shoe Gazer, said Sunday afternoon. “I think Black Friday is more of a big-box frenzy of holiday shopping. I think people are looking for bargains.”

Most shoppers on the fabled Friday after Thanksgiving are looking for big-ticket items like computers, DVDs or digital cameras, she said.

“I don’t think most people are buying snow boots,” she said while gesturing at the shoes and boots that line the walls of her small, eclectic downtown shop. “I think that if people are in the mentality of coming downtown, they’ll come down regardless. … I’m glad there’s a downtown.”

This perspective was echoed by shopper Debe Averill of Orono, who was waiting to have some purchases rung up at furniture and gift store J&B Atlantic.

“We always come to Ellsworth. They have nice, locally owned shops and good food in town,” she said. “And you don’t have to fight the kind of traffic that’s in Bangor.”

Averill said she makes efforts during the holidays to be mindful of where her shopping dollar goes.

“I try really hard for Christmas to only do locally owned business,” she said. “And not to buy anything from the chains, where it’s all the same and made of plastic.”

Lass King, manager of the Ellsworth branch of The Grasshopper Shop, said December is the store’s best month and that the end of November seems right on par with the store’s usual sales volume.

“It was pretty much the same as last year,” she said Monday of the weekend’s sales.

Another store owner reported sales are up over this time last year.

“It’s been excellent,” David Herrington, co-owner of Pyramid Studios jewelry store, said Sunday. “People seem to be starting their shopping earlier.”

Stores like his can offer shoppers personal attention that is harder to find at larger or more impersonal retailers, he said.

“We offer knowledge, service and something handmade,” Herrington said. “We’ve been here for 25 years and will be here for years into the future.”