Search no more for perfect black dress.

Byline: RETAIL NOTEBOOK By Joe Mosley The Register-Guard

Eugene's Oakway Center has gone monochromatic with the latest addition to its tenant mix: young women's clothing retailer White House/Black Market.

The high-end chain offers an inventory of current-fashion clothing, lingerie, accessories, jewelry and gifts - all in shades of white and black.

"It's more the trendy clothing and accessories," said Oakway spokesman Steve Korth, director of real estate and development for family-owned McKay Investment Co. "For us it's very nice, because it's a new, much-needed target demographic."

The chain's typical customers are 25- to 45-year-old women - splitting the difference between current Oakway shoppers who frequent the Old Navy and Chico's women's stores.

White House/Black Market recently has signed a lease for a 3,500-square-foot storefront in the former T.J. Maxx store that is being rebuilt at Oakway's southwest corner. The new store and its next-door neighbor, women's apparel store Coldwater Creek, both are expected to open in November.

A tenant has not yet been secured for a third storefront in the new building, with about 11,500 square feet of floor space.

"We're talking to a couple different entities," Korth said. "I don't think we will have that leased until after the new year - we're looking at that piece being a 2007 project."

A spokeswoman for the White House/Black Market store chain, which is based in Fort Myers, Fla., could not be reached for comment on Thursday.

According to the company's Web site (www.whiteandblack.com), the first White House store opened in Baltimore, Md., 21 years ago and the first Black Market outlet opened 10 years later. The two concepts were combined in 1997.

The chain in 2003 became an independent division of Chico's. White House/Black Market has existing Oregon locations in Hillsboro, Lake Oswego, Portland and Tigard.

"They've done very well," Korth said. "And they prefer to go into centers where they already have a Chico's - that's what got them very interested in Oakway Center, was the success of the Chico's."

The Oakway Chico's location completed its own 2,000-square-foot expansion in May and now leases a total of 4,600 square feet at the mall.

That's part of an ongoing expansion and reshuffling of the merchant mix at Oakway, which underwent massive redevelopment from 1997 to 2001 to become an upscale "lifestyle mall."

T.J. Maxx moved across Coburg Road in May to combine its off-price department store merchandise with furniture and household goods in a new, 50,000-square-foot T.J. Maxx/HomeGoods location.

A gas station was torn down last winter to make room for a pair of 6,500-square-foot buildings at the corner of Coburg and Oakway roads. One will hold a P.F. Chang's China Bistro restaurant that's expected to be open by February, while the second building has not yet been leased.

High-end young men's clothing store Samat's opened last month inside Oakway's mall area near the Burch's Shoes location. Luxe, a new paper and gifts retailer, is expected to open this fall in a space that had been leased by Garden Artscapes, which is moving to the Fifth Street Public Market.

And Euphoria Chocolates is scheduled to open its fourth local outlet Oct. 15 in a space previously occupied by Shoreline Galleries.

The 1,000-square-foot storefront is located along a walkway into Oakway's Heritage Courtyard, between Burch's and the Chapala Mexican Restaurant.

Euphoria owner Bob Bury said Oakway should be a good match for his products, which are geared toward gift-givers, chocolate connoisseurs and just about anybody who's inclined to indulge a sweet tooth.

"That's what we're banking on," Bury said. "What's happening is that Oakway is building a real upscale clientele, and that's where we want to be. But it's not like everything in the store is real expensive, either."

The Oakway store will be Euphoria's first new outlet in several years, and may serve as a launching point for a handful of new products, including chocolate-scented soaps and bath crystals, Bury said.

"Our primary focus the last several years has been expanding our wholesale (market)," he said. "But they had a space that really looked particularly attractive to us."

Retail Notebook runs on Fridays. Joe Mosley can be reached at 338-2384 or [e-mail].