Angie Lee of Mililani, toting a large bag of Christmas gifts, makes her way out of the K-B Toy store in the Pearlridge area today. BRUCE ASATO I The Honolulu Advertiser

She had carefully studied a map of the Kunia Wal-Mart. She located where the prime discounted merchandise was placed. And she had crafted a shopping strategy with her two daughters and several other people she met in line.

When the clock struck 5 a.m. today and the main door opened, the Kunia resident made a beeline to the portable DVD players.

Hundreds of other anxious shoppers, who stood in a line that snaked through the parking lot and onto a nearby sidewalk, streamed into Wal-Mart behind Chong, hoping to snap up deeply discounted merchandise.

This morning marked the official start of the holiday shopping season, and it got off with a frenzy.

The hectic scene at Wal-Mart was repeated at stores throughout the state as anxious retailers hoped the after-Thanksgiving sales would help give their bottom lines a boost in a slowing state economy.

For shoppers like Chong and Ashley Teixeira of Ewa Beach, the early-morning madness was all about getting bargains.

"I love it," said Teixeira, who stood in the Wal-Mart line hundreds of spots from the front when the doors opened. "It's the rush."

Teixeira was aiming to buy a marked-down sewing machine. After Wal-Mart, she planned to hit several other stores, just like she has done the day after Thanksgiving for the past six years.

"Now it has become a tradition," she said. "I go every year."

Many shoppers interviewed this morning said they likely would cut back on their gift spending this year because of budget constraints, thanks to higher prices for everything from gasoline to housing.

"The sales are not as great as last year," said Ewa resident Lumpy Lau, as she waited in line outside Old Navy in Waikele about 4 a.m., huddled in a hooded sweatshirt. "Things are more expensive."

Lau had been at the Waikele Center since 9:30 last night, 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 more than $300 worth of merchandise.

After that, she lined up again outside Old Navy, waiting for an MP3 player promotion that was to start at 5 a.m. While she sat in line there, her daughter and niece were waiting in line at the nearby Kmart.

The discounted merchandise throughout the Waikele Center stores attracted a huge crowd before the midnight openings. At 11:30 last night, a line of cars stretched more than a mile on the H-1 Freeway just waiting to exit to the center.

"It's crazy," Lau said of the crowds.

Papakolea resident Gwendolinda Moore, 30, was one of the few shoppers interviewed this morning who said she didn't plan to cut back on her holiday spending this year.

Her secret?