White House Black Market is an American women's clothing retailer headquartered in Fort Myers, Florida. The multichannel brand, founded in 1985, specializes in upscale clothing. White House Black Market owns and operates various clothing and accessories boutiques in the United States and Canada, where they sell their tops, dresses, skirts, pants, jackets, outerwear, shoes, jewelry, and accessories. Since 2003, White House Black Market has operated as a subsidiary of Chico's FAS. History 1980s and 1990s The company began in 1985 when cofounders Patricia Smith and Richard Sarmiento opened the first store called The White House, in Baltimore, Maryland. The White House only carried women's clothing in shades of white. The boutique performed extremely well, catering to an upscale clientele of women. In 1991, with the help of National Retail Group, a North Carolina-based consulting firm, The White House began its national expansion. After a decade of selling exclusively white merchandise, the brand launched a new retail format – "Black Market"— in Annapolis,MD, in 1995. A few experiments followed, where Sarmiento the founders housed both White House and Black Market under the same roof as a store that only sold sale merchandise culled from both stores. His endeavors were successful, and in 1997, the company began converting existing stores to this White House Black Market combination concept. 2000s In 2003, Chico's FAS, Inc. purchased White House Black Market after the privately held firm went public. The purchase price for the specialty retailer was $90M, with $85.6M in cash and about $4.4M in Chico's common stock. Chico's added color to the shops, changing what made WH/BM unique and original and making it look like just another Chico's. In 2007, Donna M. Noce stepped into the role of White House Black Market brand President. Prior to taking her position at White House Black Market, Noce served as President of Ann Taylor LOFT and also spent time at Lerner New York Division of Limited, Inc. and Petrie Stores Corporation. White House Black Market gained coverage in 2008 when Michelle Obama wore the brand's Tank Leaf Print Dress as a cohost of TV talkfest The View. Virtually overnight, the dress (priced at $148) all but sold out at White House Black Market boutiques. Collections White House Black Market's collections include dresses, jackets, pants, shoes, swim, tees, accessories and "everyday essentials". Key collections include: Iconic Black & White – "Classic black and white clothing". Workwear –