SOUTH PORTLAND (AP) – Holiday shoppers were out in droves in Maine, waiting in lines to get into malls and then waiting again to pay for their purchases, as they took advantage of Black Friday discounts and jump-started the Christmas shopping season.

Lines formed at the Bangor Mall and Maine Mall in South Portland as shoppers bundled up and hunkered down outside the doors waiting for opening time and big discounts some of the stores were offering.

By midday as the sun shone brightly over much of the state, the early birds were clearing out and the later starters were taking their place.

“I’d rather be in a mellow place and enjoy my shopping experience,” Tiffany Verdell, one of the later shoppers at the Maine Mall, told WCSH-TV.

Some shoppers didn’t wait for Friday to arrive before they took their places in long lines at Maine malls.

“I got here at 1 p.m.” Thursday, said Neil Ortiz of South Paris, who was first in line at Best Buy at the Maine Mall. Ortiz wanted to buy a $250 laptop, which had been marked down from $350, for his 15-year-old son Juan.

Shoppers who camped out in tents and wrapped up in sleeping bags formed a line that snaked around the store by 8 p.m. Thursday.

The Maine Mall, which opened at 1 a.m. Friday, brought in musicians to entertain the early birds with an all-night party called “Rockin’ Shoppin’ Eve.”

For Allison Picard of Rockland, the early shopping expedition was nothing new. Picard said she’s waited in lines for Black Friday deals for the past 24 years, ever since she was 13 years old and waiting to get a Cabbage Patch doll.

“We do this every year,” said Picard, sitting in a camping chair and her legs wrapped in a sleeping bag. “We’ve always gotten what we want and we’ve always gotten great deals.”

The scene was similar in Bangor, where long lines of shoppers that had formed overnight spilled into the stores Friday morning. Spirits overall seemed to be positive despite the crowds in the malls.

Black Friday kicked off a holiday season that will also be marked with Christmas parades and pageants in some cities. Auburn planned a parade of lights, in which floats, carolers and other participants will began a procession along main streets in the city starting at 6:15 p.m. Monday.

“If you’ve ever seen a parade of lights, you know it’s a spectacle,” said Tracey Steuber, Auburn community relations manager. “It’s just amazing to see the floats decked out with lights and street lit up. It just creates a very different atmosphere.”

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