AUBURN — Staggered Black Friday openings created three kinds of shoppers: the all-nighters, the hard-core early-risers and those who began at midnight, took a power nap and got right back at it.

Sheila Roy of Lewiston fit into the final category. She started her Thanksgiving Day by getting up at 6:30 a.m.

“We exercised, had lunch,” she said.

A nurse, she worked from 3 to 11 p.m., went home and got her two daughters, Sydney and Madison, who wanted to go to Black Friday for the first time.

They were in Freeport by midnight and shopped until 2 a.m. They went home, napped and started shopping again at 4:30 a.m. They were in line at Sports Authority at 6 a.m.

Sydney, 10, said shopping when she normally would be sleeping was “fun but tiring.”

They weren’t looking for anything in particular, just good prices. After Sports Authority, they were headed for Big Lots, followed by a break.

“Coffee’s on order at some point,” Roy said.

Ann Slonina of Lewiston was among a crowd of 2,000 people in line at Walmart when it opened at midnight. She got in line at 8 p.m. Thursday.

“We made friends with people next to us,” she said. “They gave us hand-warmers.”

Waiting in line was a good experience, she said.

After some midnight shopping, she went home and slept a few hours before hitting the stores again.

Nicole and Damien Dostie shopped all night. By 7 a.m., they were at BJ’s, picking out toys.

“I made a list and I’m sticking to it,” Nicole said.

“I just follow her,” Damien said.

Rick Murphy of Lewiston began shopping at 7 a.m. He was doing what manly men do on Black Friday: buying a television set.

“I’m looking for 1080p, 32 inches,” he said. Some televisions were advertised at low prices, “but they’re 720, not the 1080,” he cautioned: the higher the pixels, the better the picture quality, he explained.

A few minutes later, Linda Swierk of Turner was in the parking lot, getting help from a BJ’s clerk as the two tried to stuff a 65-inch television set in her vehicle.

“Do you think it’s going to fit?” she asked.

It didn’t.

No worries, Swierk said. She would return with a truck.

The big screen is for her husband, she said, adding that she scored a deal. “The regular price is $2,469; I got $1,000 off.”

Just before 8 a.m., Brenda Parent, Becca Barnes and Morgan Hackett came out of Walmart with loaded carts, headed for Denny’s.

“Yay! We did it!” Barnes yelled, triumphant. She was celebrating their all-night-shopping achievement. They got in line at 11 p.m. Thursday and shopped past dawn.

“I’ve been doing this six years,” Hackett said. “This is my best year. I saved way more. At Kohl’s, I saved $497.”

Sisters-in-law Diane Connor of Lewiston and Jamie Pacheco of Poland had overloaded carts with household goods and toys for their children.

“I’m winging it,” Connor said. “She has a list.”

Shoppers also remembered their four-legged children.

At Petco, Phil McPhee of Turner and Lynne Geiger of Auburn were waiting to get in before the 8 a.m. opening. McPhee was buying for “Mrs. Whiskers,” a cat who adopted her, and for her schnauzer, Bernie.

Geiger was there for her two schnauzers.

“I’m getting jackets for my boys,” she said.

bwashuk@sunjournal.com

Police: One line-jumper arrested

Except for one arrest of a line-jumper at Walmart, Auburn police said Black Friday went smoothly.

The midnight openings at the bigger stores attracted crowds during the first few hours. After that, there was plenty of room in store aisles and few lines, shoppers reported.

When Walmart opened at midnight, about 2,000 people were waiting, police said. One woman was arrested for disorderly conduct when she tried to force her way to the front of the line as the store opened, Deputy Chief Jason Moen said.

Abshira Mohamed, 32, of 151 Oxford St., Lewiston, was arrested just after midnight on charges of disorderly conduct and failure to submit to arrest. She was booked at the Androscoggin County Jail and later released.

At Best Buy, 400 people stood in line when the doors opened at midnight, police said.

“No issues there,” Moen said.

To ensure safety, Walmart hired four police officers, and Best Buy hired one. Shopping, as well as overall traffic in the retail district, was peaceful “given the number of people out shopping,” Moen said.