By the time Holly Mactagone made it to her favorite local clothing store at 5:45 a.m. at Ohana Hale Marketplace on Black Friday, the line had already snaked around the former Sports Authority building on Ward Avenue.

It took an hour for her to get into the indoor market and another hour for her to pay for the dozen or so items from Hawaii’s Finest, a local Hawaiian apparel company that has been operating since 2009.

“It was crazy. We didn’t get out of there until almost 9:30 a.m.,” she said, adding that the time spent braving the crowd was worth the half-off sale. “Everything was dirt cheap: bags $20, windbreakers $20, T-shirts $10. It’s all locally made. I wish I was able to buy more.”

During checkout the kamaaina business even gave her two free tickets to a Hawaiian music concert Friday night at The Republik.

At the other end of town, Aiea resident Eli Lopez joined the throng of shoppers heading out at about 10 p.m. on Thanksgiving to snatch up a camera that was on sale at Best Buy, saving him about $350.

“My wife dropped me off in the line for the parking lot. I took my daughter with me into the store, and she stood in line for the cashier while I grabbed the camera. It was actually pretty smooth sailing,” he said. “We went back to Best Buy today (Friday), and my son bought a laptop for college. We did some shopping at Pearlridge. It was actually not as bad as I thought it was going to be for the crowd and parking, but it was horrible for my wallet.”

Kaimuki resident Cheryl Matayoshi stood in a line with about 1,000 others at Eden in Love at the International Market Place from about 6 a.m. to 10 a.m. She’s been Black Friday shopping for the past five years.

“I’m not usually one to brave the crowds, but I will for Eden in Love,” she said.

The malls were bustling with retailers expecting brisk sales on Black Friday — the day after Thanksgiving and traditionally the biggest shopping day of the year. Hawaii retailers are anticipating greater holiday sales with the uptick in the economy and projected higher consumer spending. The National Retail Federation estimates 164 million consumers will shop from Thanksgiving through Monday.

“With the economy in Hawaii doing so well, we really expect sales will exceed last year,” said David Cianelli, general manager at Pearlridge Center, which started Black Friday sales 6 p.m. to around 1 a.m. Thursday and reopened at 6 a.m. Friday. “Probably 8:30 to 9:30 (Friday morning) we really saw people show up in droves. It just has increased from then. Foot traffic has actually increased (this year).”