Pre-dawn shopping frenzy kicks off holiday season

Seattle-area shoppers barely had a chance to rub the sleep from their eyes Friday when they began checking off holiday wish lists in stores.

Some didn't bother to sleep: They headed to stores after taking their last bite of Thanksgiving dinner, waiting in line overnight for discounts of up to 75 percent on everything from flat-screen TVs to video games.

A few of the stories from the official start of the Christmas shopping season:

Seattle Premium Outlets

While Americans everywhere were sleeping off a turkey stupor, thousands of red-eyed bargain hunters were dashing through outlet stores near Marysville during the middle of the night.

This was the third year Seattle Premium Outlets opened at midnight on the Friday after Thanksgiving, luring shoppers with the promise of sales on top of sales at most of its 100 stores.

Hoping to score deals on luxury handbags at the Coach outlet, Audrey Falkner arrived at 10 p.m. to stand in line outside the store with her two daughters and niece.

"We planned turkey dinner around coming here," she said.

Falkner, a teacher at Juanita High School, said they bought three handbags last year at a 50 percent discount — and that was enough to make them want to drive from Redmond again this year.

Peter Lai, his wife and two children drove down from Vancouver, B.C., to take advantage of the Canadian dollar's strength compared with U.S. currency. The family was armed with maps of the outlet mall, shopping lists and walkie-talkies to communicate with one another amid the sea of shoppers.

"This truly is the shopping Olympics," said Michele Rothstein, spokeswoman for Seattle Premium Outlets. "This event separates the average shopper from the power shopper."

By 12:30 a.m., the parking lot was full.

— Christina Siderius

Alderwood mall

Alderwood mall in Lynnwood also opened at midnight — a first for the Friday after Thanksgiving.

Canadians Michelle and Tracy Hall, shopping for Christmas gifts for their two daughters, waited in line to get into the Disney Store. The couple had attempted to go to the midnight sale at Seattle Premium Outlets but couldn't find a parking spot.

"We've never seen anything like it," Michelle Hall said.

Wally Brewster, senior vice president of marketing at mall owner General Growth Properties, said discounters are opening earlier and earlier to attract those who can't make the Friday-morning sales.

"The competition has become great for that early shopper," he said.

Down the road, Best Buy drew a crowd of campers. Tents wrapped around the building — shelters for hard-core shoppers intent on staying overnight until the store opened at 5 a.m.

Katie Soule, of Mountlake Terrace, shivered in a sleeping bag inside a tent that she and a group of friends set up. They wanted to buy laptops and DVDs, so they packed snacks, games and magazines and set out to brave the cold.

"We're crazy, but it's kind of fun," she said. "It's a way to kick off the shopping season."

— Christina Siderius

Alaska Junction, West Seattle

Her toy store in the heart of West Seattle's Alaska Junction had just opened, as usual, at 9:30 a.m., when Ann Walker finished stacking tiny Radio Flyer trikes on a shelf near the front window.

Walker seemed remarkably calm for a toy-store owner on the Friday after Thanksgiving — but then her busiest days are still a few weeks away. Her Curious Kidstuff store promised none of the deep discounts and special promotions that are a post-Thanksgiving mainstay elsewhere.

"That's not what I'm about," Walker said. "People know what I have, and I think I'd get lost in all of that. Today is the day that people go to the malls."

Kate Lawry, for one, appreciated the absence of long lines and crowded aisles at Walker's store. Lawry, 36, of West Seattle, already had done most of her Christmas shopping and felt like buying a few inexpensive toys for her children, ages 4 and 7.

"We're not going anywhere but here today. It's too hectic out there, and the savings are not worth it, to be honest," Lawry said. "Plus, I can't get up at 5 a.m. on the day after Thanksgiving. I can't get up at 5 a.m. on the best of days."

— Amy Martinez

Downtown Seattle

April Morgan couldn't contain her excitement Friday as she walked into a cavernous room at the Washington State Convention Center, where rows of cardboard boxes were stacked on wood pallets in a no-frills display of books, maps, toys, videotapes and travel gear.

The National Geographic Warehouse Sale had returned to Seattle for the first time since 2004.

"I've been waiting three years for this sale to come back," said Morgan, a Kirkland mother of two and a full-time student at Bellevue Community College.

Morgan, 39, planned to buy all her Christmas gifts for 50 relatives in a one-stop spree for the intellectually inclined. The sale continues through Sunday.

"Everybody can use a little more education, and we all need to be aware of the wonders around us outside our own backyards," Morgan said. "There's a treasure in every box."

— Sara Jean Green

Bellevue Square

Before arriving at Bellevue Square about 9:30 a.m., Alexa Pennak, of Seattle, and Ben Betz of Redmond, already had hit Best Buy and Target, where Betz bought the Santa hat he was wearing.

"I told him to leave the hat in the car," Pennak said.

But Betz said he couldn't resist breaking it in for the season. "I tried to get her to wake up at 4 a.m.," he said.

Betz said the Friday after Thanksgiving is his traditional kickoff to the shopping season, which he usually completes in three consecutive days.

"I love it," he said. "It's the excitement. Everybody's out."

— Amy Roe