Denton-based Sally Beauty Holdings Inc.’s better-than-expected third-quarter sales are a boon not only for the company, but for the local business community, officials said.

For the third quarter, the company’s consolidated sales were up 10.3 percent to $743 million, compared to the same period last year, according to information released Thursday by Sally Beauty.

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Sally Beauty Holdings Inc. recently celebrated the opening of its 4,000th store, which is located in Charlotte, N.C.

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The third quarter saw the company earn $41.1 million this year, compared to $31.5 million last year, according to the data.

The strong sales reflect the niche that Sally Beauty has created in distributing beauty products to consumers in need of affordable alternatives to the salon, said Gary Winterhalter, president and CEO of the company.

“Women are putting more time in between salon visits and trading down,” Winterhalter said. “We’re a good trade down. We’re really positioned to do well in any economic situation, which is a nice place to be.”

Winterhalter, who has 42 years experience in the beauty supply industry, said he anticipates that Sally Beauty will be around for a long time and will adapt to any changes surrounding the beauty industry.

Quoting a friend, he said: “You can’t outsource a haircut.”

Earlier this month, the company opened up its 4,000th retail store, which is in Charlotte, N.C.

The store’s opening marks a milestone for Winterhalter, who said he’s been personally involved in hundreds of store acquisitions by spending weeks getting the feel for a regional location.

As the company expands internationally, Sally Beauty also is celebrating the recent opening of its 100th retail store in Mexico and the acquisition of a distribution network in Chile.

The opportunities for growth are seemingly endless, Winterhalter said.

“I like to be on the ground, to get the feel and the touch of the country,” he said. “The industry is so different country to country. You can’t try and cookie-cut the business, which is what a lot of retailers do.”

Terry Clower, an economist with the University of North Texas, said the product mix and niche that Sally Beauty has created in the market will likely continue to attract budget-conscious consumers and expand the business.

“These are small luxuries that people allow themselves, even when things aren’t as good, and is something that is not a lot of money,” Clower said.

With Sally Beauty being one of the top private-sector local employers, this is good news for the overall regional economy, he said.

“With each new store, it will create new jobs and will strengthen the local company,” Clower said.

In the last 5 1/2 years, Sally Beauty has added nearly 300 corporate jobs, bringing the total number of Denton corporate employees to 758, company officials said.

Mayor Mark Burroughs said those white-collar jobs are the ideal type of employment opportunities the city’s economic development office has been hoping to attract.

“Sally Beauty is a poster child for what Denton has been prioritizing towards for years now,” Burroughs said.

The “managerial, intellectually based jobs” would have a possible ripple effect, helping increase the valuation of Denton housing and boost the local economy, he said.

“Those things have significant effects on the current and future economy,” Burroughs said. “It’s not just Sally [Beauty] that benefits.”

CANDACE CARLISLE can be reached at 940-566-6889. Her e-mail address is ccarlisle@dentonrc.com .