Michele LaBianca, Owner
Michele owns both The Christmas Tree and The Village Emporium. Originally from New York, Michele has been a frequent Bar Harbor visitor since the late 1960s. Michele and her husband moved to Bar Harbor full time in the 1970s. She managed a Main Street art gallery and sold her sister Joan's artwork in Main Street for ten years. When Joan opened The Christmas Tree in 1973, Michele took over managing there where she enjoyed meeting customers from all over and became friends with the staff. Michele purchased the building where the Village Emporium now resides in 1984. She wanted to be able to sell a variety of merchandise and provide quality clothing for the whole family.  She has four grown children, including Dorrie.

Dorrie LaBianca, Manager
Dorrie earned her business degree at Mary Washington University and has been running the day to day operations of The Village Emporium and sister store The Christmas Tree for the past fifteen years. An avid hiker, Dorrie enjoys getting out on her favorite trails at Acadia National Park before starting work. She also enjoys knitting, beating all her friends at Wii bowling, and playing with her cattle dogs, Blue and Sparks.



Samantha Spellacy, Assistant Manager
Sam began working for the Village Emporium and The Christmas Tree the summer of 2002. She worked summers until graduating from the University of Maine at Fort Kent in 2006, after which she began working full time. Originally from Connecticut, she now lives in Southwest Harbor. Besides helping customers, Sam can also be found reading the latest Dean Koontz or Anne Rice book, crafting with friends, and hanging out with her Toy Fox Terriers, Spaz and Peanut and Boston Terrier, Harley.