Description of Business and Basis of Presentation

12 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2013

Description of Business and Basis of Presentation

Description of Business and Basis of Presentation

1. Description of Business and Basis of Presentation

Description of Business

Sally Beauty Holdings, Inc. and its consolidated subsidiaries ("Sally Beauty" or "the Company") sell professional beauty supplies, through its Sally Beauty Supply retail stores primarily in the U.S., Puerto Rico, Canada, Mexico, Chile, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Belgium, France, Germany, the Netherlands and Spain. Additionally, the Company distributes professional beauty products to salons and salon professionals through its Beauty Systems Group ("BSG") store operations and a commissioned direct sales force that calls on salons primarily in the U.S., Puerto Rico, Canada, the United Kingdom and certain other countries in Europe, and to franchises in the southern and southwestern regions of the U.S., and in Mexico through the operations of its subsidiary Armstrong McCall, L.P. ("Armstrong McCall"). Certain beauty products sold by BSG and Armstrong McCall are sold under exclusive territory agreements with the manufacturers of the products.

Sally Beauty Supply began operations with a single store in New Orleans in 1964 and was acquired in 1969 by our former parent company, The Alberto-Culver Company, which we refer to as Alberto-Culver. BSG became a subsidiary of Sally Beauty in 1995. In November 2006, Sally Beauty separated from Alberto-Culver and became an independent company listed on the New York Stock Exchange. In November 2006, Sally Beauty incurred approximately $1,850.0 million of long-term debt in connection with its separation into an independent company.

Basis of Presentation

The consolidated financial statements included herein have been prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America ("GAAP"). These consolidated financial statements include the operations of the Company and its subsidiaries. All significant intercompany balances and transactions have been eliminated in consolidation.

All references in these notes to "management" are to the management of Sally Beauty.