What Passes for Black Friday Retail Skirmish In Lafayette Is Actually a Holiday Tradition

We strolled the streets and shopping malls in Lamorinda, and, to our surprise, no block-long lines of frenzied shoppers pushing their way to cash registers, eager to part with as much money as they could as fast as they could. 

To our roving eye (and camera lens), among retailers it looked pretty much like any other Friday save for one notable exception -- Orchard Nursery in Lafayette, where ever-smiling clerks furiously wrapped the Christmas-tree ornaments and other seasonal bric-a-brac for which the store is legendary. 

Orchard, which opened its doors in 1946, has established itself as a retail institution. Whereas it is conventional in that it sells trees and shrubs and flowers year-round, it goes bonkers at this time of year, selling ornaments and other decorations hanging from tree branches and from chock-full shelves. 

It's a holiday tradition for many local families, some of whom have been buying a new ornament for their tree or home here each year for the past several years. And if today's turnout is any indication, the tradition is in no danger of fading away anytime soon.