By late Thanksgiving night, the line in front of Best Buy, a popular electronics store, was halfway around the Dimond Mall. At 3 a.m., store employees began passing out tickets to those in line, a guarantee they could purchase limited item specials as soon as the doors opened at 5 a.m.

“The door busters were gone by 10:30 a.m.,” said store manager John Penn, still smiling hours later, as shoppers continued to crowd the store.

Penn added that Thanksgiving weekend is not indicative of the whole holiday season. “The unknown is if this is going to continue,” he said.

For those who stood for hours in line in the dark, the payoff came in bargains like new Sony laptops, marked down from the regular price of $749.99 to $399.99, a savings of $350, and $829.99 Dynex LCD HDTVs, priced at $529.99

Downtown at J.C. Penney, the sky-bridge entrance from the adjacent parking garage was packed with people when the store opened at 4 a.m., said store manager Dan Durkin.

“I thought it would start out slow and build up until 5 a.m.,” Durkin said.

Shoppers were particularly interested in electronic gifts, leather coats and jewelry. The presence of serious shoppers, who know exactly what they want, is stronger this year, and there is also a much stronger demand in gift giving merchandise than a year ago, he said.

Among the enthused shoppers at J.C. Penny was Tracy Loiselle, who purchased doorbuster specials of silicone bakeware, normally priced at $44, for $18.88 apiece. Twenty minutes later, she was out of the store, ready to take on the crowds at Toys R Us, Wal-Mart and Fred Meyer.

“I spent less than $400 and I got everybody on my Christmas list covered,” she said. “It was so worth it.”

Loiselle's twin, Tiffany Byars, found digital picture frames at Wal-Mart for about $50. “Not totally screaming deals, but cheaper than I would get them normally,” said Byars, who was in line at Wal-Mart at 2:30 a.m.

Others shoppers, like Cassi Smith of Wasilla, passed on the early morning bargain. “We're not interested in standing in line,” said Smith, who came to Best Buy with her husband, Mark, and children Kaylie, 2, and Skyler, 4, to purchase a $1,500 computer system. The Smiths left home about 7 a.m., making their first stop in Anchorage at Toys R Us, where they found several good deals on toys for their youngsters.

The Smiths were representative of a different trend in shopping this year, Penn said. For everyone who lined up early for the doorbuster specials, there are two or three others who just want to shop, he said.

“It's very busy right now,” he said. “We're very happy with what we are seeing today.”

At Costco on Dimond, where store personnel were handing out free copies of the company's latest cookbook to all shoppers, the hot items included Vizio 50-inch plasma HDTVs, marked down $200, to $1,099.99, and a variety of other electronics.

Erin Campbell, a manager at Borders Books, Music and Cafe, also was pleased with the consumer crowds.

Boxed sets of DVDS normally priced at $40 to $80, marked down for the holiday weekend, “are just flying out the door,” she said.

Borders also saw exceptional sales the day before Thanksgiving, when they offered consumers with a Borders Rewards card special money-saving deals, she said.