NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - White House Inc., a women's apparel retailer, has a simple marketing philosophy. It sells only white and black clothing. Last month the company did something complicated: It decided to go public.

The Glen Burnie, Maryland-based company, which sells most of its products under its White House--Black Market private label, currently operates 96 stores nationwide. The company, however, is confident about its future and plans to expand the number of stores to 400.

Perhaps a bolder signal of its business optimism is its initial public offering (IPO) filing last month, a curious move, say industry insiders, given the market volatility and weakness in retail.

In fact, Aeropostale (ARO: Research, Estimates) was the last specialty apparel retailer to go public. That was back in May 2002. Since then, a bearish stock market and a shaky economy have kept the IPO market overall in a long dry spell.

"We've had only a handful of IPOs in the last two years, just eight of them from the retail sector," said Richard Peterson, market strategist with Thomson Financial.

And just two out of the eight -- Aeropostale and Dick's Sporting Goods (DKS: Research, Estimates) -- are trading significantly above their offering price. Dick's shares are up a whopping 168 percent from their debut price, while Aeropostale shares are up a more modest 22 percent.

"Maybe with the market rebounding, some companies are getting ready to test the waters again. But the IPO market is still bad and there's no room for error," Peterson warned.

Because of its privately-held status, White House has flown relatively low on the radar of many retail industry watchers.

Performance of retail IPOs Company Offering price % change (6/12/03) Dick's Sporting Goods (Debuted Oct. 2002) $12 a share +168%* Aeropostale (May 2002) $18 a share +22%* Big Five Sporting Goods (June 2002) $13 a share +3 % Overstock.com (May 2002) $13 a share +8.5% Petco (Feb. 2002) $19 a share +12.4 % GameStop (Feb. 2002) $18 a share -41.3% Asbury Automotive (March 2002) $16.50 a share -21.5% Kirkland's (July 2002) $15 a share -5.6% * based on price as of 3:00p.m. (6/12/03) Source: Thomson Financial

The company plugs itself as a specialty retailer for the educated middle-to-upper income women between the ages of 30 and 50, and its clothes sell for between $30 to $150.

"The company isn't as well-known as Talbots (TLB: Research, Estimates) or Chico's (CHS: Research, Estimates), but it has a winning strategy that's worked well so far," said Howard Davidowitz, chairman of New York-based national retail consulting firm Davidowitz & Associates Inc. "I think color is a critical part of fashion apparel but consumers have bought into the company's black and white concept."

White House's sales at stores open at least a year -- a key retail measure known as same-store sales -- have risen on average 11.5 percent the last three years, according to the company's public filing, and rose 16.3 percent in fiscal 2002. The company logged net sales of $67 million last year, up 34 percent from the previous year.

By comparison, Talbot's has struggled to grow its same-store sales for the last two and a half years, according to Ken Perkins, retail analyst with First Call. Talbot's annual revenue for its last fiscal year slipped by 1 percent to $1.5 billion from the previous year.

Meanwhile, White House logged $2 million in net income last year, reversing a loss of $810,000 a year ago.

"The rule of the game is go public for the money when you have the numbers to impress potential investors," said Davidowitz. "Retail, and especially apparel, is so fickle that nothing stays the same forever."

White House plans to raise $50 million in its IPO, use $11.8 million of the proceeds to make required distributions to common stockholders and about $1.7 million to fund capital expenditures.

"We've been in the business for a long time and we felt this was the right time to do this," said Rick Sarmiento, founder, chief operating officer and president of White House Inc. Sarmiento declined to comment further on the company's decision to go public.

Davidowitz, however, thinks the IPO could be a risky gamble for White House.

"Investors beware, this could be a shot in the dark for White House," said Davidowitz. "It's true that the company has been on a roll but things can turn around very quickly. Look at Talbots, look at Charming Shoppes (CHRS: Research, Estimates), look at Abercrombie & Fitch (ANF: Research, Estimates).

"It's an open question whether or not White House can maintain the momentum it's had."