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 for women ages 35 and older. While black, white and iterations of the two shades is the company’s hallmark, White House Black Market is also known for its sleek lines and seasonal accent colors.
White House Black Market owns and operates various clothing and accessories boutiques in the United States and Canada, where they sell their exclusive collection of tops, dresses, skirts, pants, jackets, outerwear, shoes jewelry and accessories. Since 2003, White House Black Market has operated as a subsidiary of Chico's.
History
The company began in 1985 when cofounders Patricia Smith and Richard Sarmiento opened the first store called The White House, in Baltimore, Maryland. True to its name, 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 â€" "Black Market"â€" in 1995. A few experiments followed, where Sarmiento the founders housed both White House and Black Market under the same roof. His endeavors were successful, and in 1997, the company began converting existing stores to this White House Black Market combination concept.
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.
Collections
White House Black Market’s collections include dresses, jackets, pants, shoes, swim, tees, accessories and "everyday essentials". Key collections include:
- Iconic Black & White â€" Classic black and white clothing.
- Workwear â€" The WorkKit collection, in a seasonless black fabric, includes pants, jackets, shirts and accessories that make dressing for work easier than ever.
- Wedding & Event Boutique â€" Launched on January 26, 2015. The collection’s key piece is White House Black Market’s Genius dress, a design that can be worn multiple ways. The Wedding & Event Boutique features party and cocktail dresses as well as bridesmaid dresses, shoes, jewelry and more.
Advertising and Promotion
White House Black Market’s marketing program consists of the company’s loyalty program (WHBM Rewards), direct marketing efforts (direct mail, email), national print and broadcast advertising, internet and direct phone sales, social media marketing, and public relations and community outreach programs.
Rewards Program
In fiscal 2014, WHBM re-launched its rewards program as WHBM Rewards. The program includes tier-based discounts, promotions, free shipping and invitations to private sales based on customer’s annual spend.
Locations
White House Black Market currently operates more than 440 boutiques and over 60 outlets across the United States, Canada, Puerto Rico and the U.S Virgin Islands.
The opening of a White House Black Market store in Toronto, Canada on October 24, 2014 was the first push toward international expansion for Chico’s brands. As of January 31, 2015 White House Black Market had five stores across Canada.
In the Public Spotlight
White House Black Market gained notoriety 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.
Models
White House Black Market casts famous models in their commercials and marketing campaigns.
In 2012, the company’s TV ad starred supermodel Coco Rocha in a commercial directed by Johan Renck. The spot featured Coco tap dancing in over a dozen outfits from the company’s WorkKit collection.
White House Black Market has also worked with models Alyssa Miller, Linda Voitova, Michaela Kocianova, and Naty Chabenenko (Holiday 2012), Anne Vyalitsyna, (Spring/Summer 2013), Bette Franke, and Lakshmi Menon (model), (Holiday 2011) and Ali Stephens(Spring/Summer 2011) among others.
Leadership
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.<
On December 1, 2015, Shelly Broader became President and CEO of Chico’s FAS, Inc. Prior to joining Chico’s FAS, Inc., she served as President and Chief Executive Officer of Walmart’s EMEA region, where she was responsible for retail operations and business development across Europe, the Middle East, Sub-Saharan Africa and Canada.. Prior to Walmart, she held the post of President and CEO of Michael’s, the world’s largest retailer of arts and crafts.
Before Broader’s arrival, David F. Dyer held the position (2009-2015). He currently serves as Vice Chair of the Board of Directors.
Philanthropy
White House Black Market continues to support the efforts of Living Beyond Breast Cancer (LBBC), Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals (CMNH) and Dress For Success.
In April, 2015, Chico’s FAS announced the launch of its fifth May is for Miracles Campaign benefitting Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals®â€"a multi-faceted program to raise funds for the 170 Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals (CMN Hospitals) across the United States and Canada. Since 2011, Chico’s FAS, Inc., has raised over $5 million for Salt Lake City-based CMN Hospitals.