Ulta Salon, Cosmetics & Fragrance, Inc., more commonly known as Ulta Beauty, announced plans to open 100 new stores and remodel another dozen in the coming fiscal year. With 765 stores, Ulta Beauty is already the largest beauty retailer in the country. The company aims to have 1,000 stores located in the United States by 2017.

A majority of Ulta Beauty stores are located in the east coast region; however, it has a large presence in California as well. According to Chain Store Guide’s database of Drug Store & HBC Chains, a traditional Ulta Beauty store is 10,000 square feet. Through its stores and ulta.com, the top beauty company offers over 20,000 products across the categories of cosmetics, fragrance, haircare, skincare, bath and body products, and salon styling tools. Ulta Beauty stores also offer a full-service salon in all of its locations. Salon services offered include haircuts, hair coloring and permanent texture, as well as facials and waxing.

Ulta Beauty was founded in 1990 by Richard E. George, the former President of Osco Drug, Inc.  The top retailer is headquartered near Chicago and employs more than 19,000 associates. The reason Ulta has had such success is its ability to offer a wide variety of products at competitive prices with great customer service. An Ulta shopper leaves happy finding what she wanted, feeling like she got a good deal and often with a new hair-do. The company’s free ULTAmate Rewards program allows loyal customers to earn points on purchases and redeem for free products.

Chain Store Guide’s database of Drug Store & HBC Chains shows that Ulta’s year-over-year growth for total sales was an impressive 20 percent. Total unit growth over the same period was 15 percent. The top beauty retailer hit $2.7 billion in sales last year and ended the year with 675 stores. Ulta Salon, Cosmetics & Fragrance, Inc. is on track to hit $3 billion in sales this year.