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 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