DAWN PATROL FIRST STORES OPEN DOORS 5 A.M. FRIDAY.

Byline: Brent Hopkins Staff Writer

With dawn's early light barely detectable, malls will cast open their doors to a shopping-hungry public early Friday.

Seeking to capture as many shoppers as possible, they'll set up early, trumpet their sales and try to accommodate the vast influx of customers for the traditional start of the shopping season.

While most folks are still sleeping off the last of their Thanksgiving turkey, the retail world will be on its feet.

``Start your engines, ladies, it's time to go,'' said Michele Rothstein, vice president of marketing for Camarillo Premium Outlets. ``The name of the game is who's going to find the best deal, and we're ready to be the ones to give it to them.''

Five of her center's stores will open at 5 a.m., and clerks at the Gap Outlet will work a grueling 24-hour shift to handle shoppers who come their way. On Wednesday afternoon, the mall's staff was still polishing up, practicing customer service tips and straightening holiday decor.

``I feel like we're right before the big game,'' she said. ``We're doing all our stretching and making sure we're ready.''

At the Fashion Square's Macy's in Sherman Oaks, salespeople will be on the floor by 6:45 a.m. for the morning roll call, bracing for the 7 a.m. opening. Assistant store manager Armineh Petrossian, who's notched nine holiday seasons in her belt, conservatively expects a crowd of 50 - at each of the store's doors. She'll be at the store by 5:15 a.m., armed with boxes of doughnuts and gallons of juice.

``Sugar first, then coffee later,'' she said. ``That's the retail diet. This is what we work for all year long. This is the curtain call.''

And they'll be working hard for it. With sales predictions tight, the first day of the season will be particularly crucial.

``It's by far the most important retail day of the year,'' said C. Britt Beemer, chairman of retail watcher America's Research Group. ``It sets the tone for the whole Christmas season. The stores you visit that day, you'll go back there for the rest of the season. If you're not there first, you lose.''

With that in mind, Wednesday was a long work day for retailers bracing for Friday's onslaught. Denise Williams, owner of Lavender's Hallmark in Sherman Oaks, brought on extra stockers and dove into decorating the windows herself at 4 p.m.

``If I don't get it all out of the way tonight, I'll be back to get it Friday morning,'' she sighed. ``I'll be working that turkey off somehow.''

CAPTION(S):

2 photos, box

Photo:

(1 -- color) Denise Williams, owner of Lavender's Hallmark Store in Sherman Oaks Fashion Square, fills her store window with Santa Clauses.

(2) Sara Rodriguez, 21, of Encino, left, and Lemor Moses, 21, of Berkeley, got a jump on holiday shopping Wednesday at Sherman Oaks Fashion Square. Most malls will open early Friday.

Tina Burch/Staff Photographer

Box:

MERRY MALLS

SOURCE: Daily News research