DAWN INVASION SHOPPERS HEAD OUT IN DARK TO LAND BARGAINS.

Byline: Sue Doyle Staff Writer

SANTA CLARITA - By 11 a.m. Thursday, they had already staked their claim at Best Buy, setting up cots to sleep by the electronics store's entrance to get first dibs on everything when doors opened before dawn Friday.

To pass time during the day, they hooked up laptops and watched movies on DVD players. At night, when it came time for Thanksgiving dinner, the fixings were picked up at a local restaurant and brought back to their coveted first place in line.

This was the second year that the Colleys and some friends have camped out in front of the Bouquet Canyon Road store on Thanksgiving Day. With four empty cars - including a 15-passenger van - parked in the lot and ready to haul their purchases away, the Canyon Country family was prepared for a morning of serious holiday shopping.

By 7 a.m. Friday, they had spent about $10,000 inside the store, filling up five shopping carts with a 42-inch plasma TV, four desktop computers, four laptops and more, said 17-year- old James Colley, who had stayed up all night with Northridge friend Matt McGregor, 16.

Some gifts will go to two brothers serving in Iraq, such as the laptops and cameras, Colley said. Other presents are for friends and the family.

And how will he top off a morning like this?

``I'm going to go home and play with it all and have fun,'' he said.

Around town thousands rolled out of bed hours before dawn on Friday to hit the stores that advertised mega-sales upon ultra-mega sales starting at 5 or 6 a.m. Some stood in line for hours in the dark waiting for doors to open, wrapped in blankets and with store fliers in hand.

Nearly one-third of holiday revelers kick off the season by shopping on what's known in the retail world as Black Friday, considered the busiest shopping day of the year and when many stores rake in hefty profits, according to Shopping in America, a Santa Monica-based organization that studies consumer-shopping trends.

The phrase Black Friday refers to stores' bottom lines, getting out of the red and into the black.

The day is also a good indicator of consumers' financial moods and gives businesses a snapshot of what to expect during the rest of the season.

Seasoned shoppers have the day figured out. Long before Friday comes, they've already calculated their plans of attack. With lists in hand, they arrive before sunup outside stores, starting at the places where the hottest items are sold and that usually have the longest lines.

Randy Maxwell was one such shopper. By 6:15 a.m., the 34-year-old was leaving Target in Valencia with a bag of gifts and was heading to Sears and Kohl's for some more. Earlier, he was at Best Buy and Wal-Mart.

The sales are unbeatable on this day, said the Valencia man, who woke up at 4 a.m. to get in line outside one store. When the day ends, a chunk of his shopping will be done.

``It saves a lot of money doing it this way,'' he said. ``And you get done with everything.''

Saugus resident Jessica Dabbeekeh is another one of these shopping connoisseurs. The 23-year-old stood outside Robinsons-May with friends at 5 a.m. to score discount cards offered to the first few hundred in line. Early morning shopping is an annual event in her life, she said.

``I can't even believe I'm coming here for $15, but it's that holiday tradition,'' she said.

Among the shopping pros, there were some novices, such as Kim Myers. Still in her pajamas, Myers pushed a cart and quickly hustled across the parking lot behind her mother, Nancy, who was closing in on Target's entrance.

The 29-year-old Myers said she got up at 5:45 a.m., brushed her teeth and headed out the door with Mom to find some good buys. She didn't know what was in store and wanted to try it. Mom was apparently an innocent bystander who got pulled into the deal.

``This is my first time,'' Kim Myers said. ``I heard that this gets crazy, but it's very exciting.''

Still, for other newcomers, the shopping madness was somewhat overwhelming.

Wrapped up together with one blanket, Tom and Anita Burket stood in line at 5:30 a.m. outside Robinsons-May. Earlier, the Castaic couple waited with thousands outside Circuit City to get vouchers for big items, passed out to those first in line.

When they realized they were too far away from the store's front doors to get vouchers for the laptop they wanted, they left and went to the Valencia Town Center mall. They didn't know what they'd buy inside but wanted to see the sales.

Never having done the early morning shopping gig before, they weren't sure if they'd do it again in 2006.

``We know next year that if we want something, we have to camp out the afternoon before,'' Tom Burket said.

Sue Doyle, [phone]

sue.doyle(at)dailynews.com

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Photo:

(color) Patti Meyer of Sylmar heads to her car at the River Oaks shopping plaza in Valencia after hitting the stores at 5 a.m. to shop for her 10 grandchildren.

David Crane/Staff Photographer