At least 36 Williamsport stores were open Monday evening, the first such opening in which a number of stores are pledged to continue for at least six months.

It is expected an additional number of stores will be open tomorrow evening. December 16 and 23 of course, will be open, for what was decided earlier by the store hours committee of the Williamsport Merchants Bureau.

The bureau, however, has nothing to do with the effort by some stores to establish Monday night as a permanent shopping night in addition to Friday.

Initially, the experiment was scheduled for January 6, but it was later decided that December would be a better month because it would give Christmas shoppers more leisure time to make their selections.

An informal survey indicated shoppers from as far away as Wellsboro, Watsontown, Milton, Montgomery, and Lewisburg.

A number of out-of-town shoppers said they welcomed the opportunity to shop on a week night in addition to Friday, when traffic is much heavier.

The 36 stores known to be open Monday evening were: L.L. Stearns, Carroll House, W.T. Grant Company, J.C. Penney, Sears Roebuck, S.S. Kresge Dime Store, S.S. Kresge Dollar Store, Woolworth’s, Neyhart’s, Kay Shoe Company, Triangle Shoes, Glick Shoes, Endicott Johnson Shoe Company, Kinney Shoes, Miles Shoes, James Shoe Store, Stephen, the Hub, Hirsh Clothing Store, Lenny’s Army Navy Store, Darling Shop, Ormond Hosiery Shop, Youngland, Grossman’s, Widman and Teah Drugs, Rands, Sinclair, Wolf Furniture Sinclair’s, Lycoming Furs, Pars, Topps, Central Music Store, Ritters Millinery, Beverly, and Ghalib Appliance Store.