A handful of Hamilton businesses opened their doors yesterday despite the public holiday, and were greeted by hundreds of shoppers.Customers were lined up inside AS Coopers, which started its post-Christmas sale, while Brown & Co and the Phoenix Store all saw steady business with customers circling reduced-price Christmas items.And staff at the Bermuda Book Store said they were pleasantly surprised by the number of customers coming through the store.Shopper Albert Tavares said he heard about the sale at AS Coopers on the radio and decided to stop in to town to take advantage of the discounts.“I really didn’t think it would be this busy since pretty much everything is closed,” Mr Tavares said. “I guess with the economy the way it is, everyone is looking for a sale.”Laura Cho, from Kingston, Ontario, said she had been warned that most of Hamilton would be closed, but was pleasantly surprised to see a their trip to town wasn’t wasted.“We’re not spending a lot of time in Bermuda, so we figured it was worth a shot,” she said. “Things are still a bit pricey, but we’ve been able to get lunch and look at a few things.”