Despite dire predictions that overstressed budgets and frenzied traffic would keep Black Friday shoppers home, retailers in the Islands say sales were brisk and lines were long yesterday as thousands of bargain hunters came out for one-day-only discounts.

Lines started forming in front of toy stores, tech retailers, big-box outlets and malls as early as Thanksgiving morning. By 4:45 a.m. yesterday, the line for Circuit City at Pearlridge Center stretched an estimated quarter-mile, all the way to California Pizza Kitchen.

"It's about the adrenaline rush," said Hope Ahloo-Donlin, a veteran Black Friday shopper.

Ahloo-Donlin, of Pearl City, and her son got to the Toys 'R Us at Pearlridge around 10 p.m. Thanksgiving Day. By yesterday morning, the Toys 'R Us line extended along the length of the store, outside the parking lot and along the street.

Ahloo-Donlin had family members stationed in line at the Best Buy in Pearl City and the Wal-Mart in Kunia. Toys 'R Us opened at 5 a.m., and within 45 minutes Ahloo-Donlin was walking out of the store with a cart packed with toys and games.

"We're going to be back next year," she promised. "This is so exciting."

Across the country, Black Friday marks the official start of the holiday shopping rush, and is traditionally one of the busiest buying days of the season. Millions of sale-savvy shoppers lined up outside hundreds of stores nationwide to take advantage of one-time discounts and promotions.

Though Hawai'i retailers say they aren't expecting record sales this Christmas season — since families are spending more on fuel and other necessities — many predict a modest increase in profits compared to last year. Ala Moana Center, for example, expects its holiday sales to "keep pace" with 2006 sales, likely closing out with a "low single-digit increase," spokesman Matthew Derby said.

To attract more customers yesterday, many Hawai'i retailers offered unbeatable bargains and perks for early birds. Tech retailers Circuit City and Best Buy in Pearl City were both selling laptops for under $300. Toys 'R Us had MP3 players for $10. And Ala Moana Center was offering free valet parking and bottled water to customers, and a $25 gift certificate for the first 500 people to redeem $500 worth of receipts. By 9 a.m., three hours after the mall opened, 100 people had gotten the $25 certificates.

Derby said the promotions were a first for Ala Moana, and they appeared to have worked.

"It's equating to better traffic and, hopefully, better sales for our merchants," he said.

Several retailers at Ala Moana drew long lines, including KB Toys, the Disney Store, Macy's and Old Navy, which opened at midnight on Thanksgiving. Some 400 people were outside Macy's when it opened at 6 a.m. yesterday, Derby said. And when the doors were unlocked, many shoppers sprinted into the store to grab what they wanted before it ran out. "They knew what they were going to buy," Derby said.

Pearlridge Center was buzzing early yesterday, too.

In addition to long lines at Circuit City and Toy 'R Us, thousands of shoppers turned out to grab deals at small and large retailers inside Pearlridge, which opened at 6 a.m. "It's been phenomenal. I've not seen crowds like this before," said Fred Paine, general manager at Pearlridge Center. "I think people are now expecting to save money, and that's what makes it worthwhile to get up this early."

The trick will be to keep shoppers coming back.

Pearlridge and Ala Moana hope to attract shoppers with free entertainment.

And retailers at the malls have more sales planned throughout the season.

Retailers said shoppers didn't appear to be scared off by traffic jams associated with the sold-out University of Hawai'i football game. Instead, shoppers just came earlier — and in some cases created traffic headaches of their own. At 11:30 p.m. on Thanksgiving, a line of cars stretched more than a mile on the H-1 Freeway westbound waiting to exit to Waikele Center, whose stores opened at midnight.

"It's crazy," said 'Ewa resident Lumpy Lau, of the crowds. Lau had been at the Waikele Center since 9:30 p.m. on Thanksgiving, waiting for Old Navy to open at midnight. Once inside, she went straight for the sale items, then waited about an hour in line to pay for an estimated $300 worth of merchandise.

Retail consultants say the frenzied rush yesterday to grab deep discounts is an indication people want their holiday shopping budgets to stretch. Rising costs for gas, food and other necessities — coupled with the ailing stock and housing markets — have meant many people have smaller holiday shopping budgets this year, or are less willing to shell out loads of money on luxury goods.

Black Friday usually kicks off the holiday shopping season, but experts say sales on the day after Thanksgiving no longer indicate how stores will fare during the holiday season. The term Black Friday refers to retailers going from being "in the red" to being "in the black" — or profitable.

The National Retail Federation predicts sales this holiday season will increase 4 percent from last year — the slowest sales growth in five years. And though shoppers say they will be spending as much or more than they did last year, they will be searching for discounts, a federation survey says.

The average holiday-related spending of consumers surveyed was about $923 this year, a 3.7 increase from 2006.

Stephany Sofos, a local retail marketing analyst, said hot, new technology items — like the iPod Touch and Wii game player — will likely be big sellers this year. Other luxury goods, which have seen good sales in recent years, probably won't be flying off shelves quite as quickly, she said.

"People don't feel as wealthy as they did last year," Sofos said.

Several shoppers lined up outside Pearlridge Center stores yesterday said they planned to spend about the same this holiday season as they did in 2006, but many added that they were searching harder this year for the best deals to stretch their dollars.

The search for the best bargain also brought out a slew of first-time Black Friday shoppers. Marie Paison, of Salt Lake, said she was shocked when she saw the line leading to Toys 'R Us at Pearlridge. But she got in the line anyway, since she was there.

The 26-year-old said she has only shopped at the Navy Exchange on Black Friday.

This year, she decided to try something new.

But, she added, she probably won't be in line next year.

"I'm getting some things for the kids," she said.

Plenty of Black Friday pros also came out.

Michael Cabras, 21, and 19-year-old Kennard Capili were planning on making their way to the football game before 11 a.m., after spending a night outside Circuit City in Pearl City. The two were the first in line at the store, arriving around 6:30 a.m. on Thanksgiving Day. Last November, Cabras spent the night in line at Circuit City waiting for the release of the PlayStation 3 video game player.

Yesterday, he was there to get a 50-inch high-definition television on sale for $799.

The television normally retails for more than $1,000.

"We just need an HDTV," said Cabras, laughing.

Ceal Hesia, who got in line at Toys 'R Us about 7:30 p.m. Thanksgiving with her son and three nieces and nephews, was packing up her SUV about 5:45 a.m. yesterday with loads of Christmas gifts.

The group spent the night in line, huddled in the SUV or on a nearby patch of grass.

Hesia said Black Friday is a Thanksgiving tradition for the family.

"We do it every year," she said, adding she has relatives in lines at Wal-Mart and K-mart.

Hesia says she'll be in line again next Thanksgiving.

And so will the young ones, who reveled in the idea of camping at a toy store.

Reach Mary Vorsino at mvorsino@honoluluadvertiser.com.