Beauty retailer Mecca will unveil its Bourke Street flagship store in Melbourne, one of the largest standalone beauty retail stores in the world, on August 8. The store will feature more than 200 global brands, over 80 services and about 300 team members. The landmark location, housed in a heritage-listed 1930s building, was built in partnership with architects Studio McQualter and preserves original features, such as arched windows, terrazzo flooring, shopfront tiles, and a reinstated mezzanine.
The store will feature Mecca Perfumeria, a fragrance gallery with scent sommeliers to assist customers; Mecca Gift Box, a gifting station offering bespoke packaging, personalised engravings, and a calligraphy service; and Mecca Aesthetica, a consultation service featuring expert dermal therapists for clinical skin treatments and cosmetic consultations with qualified registered nurses.
The Mecca beauty atelier will provide customers with 90-minute hair services with UK-based hair colourist Josh Wood, nail services with Trophy Wife and makeup services. The Mecca Apothecary will provide access to an on-site naturopath and dispensary, covering gut health, sleep, life transitions, and ritual design.
The brand’s commitment to educating its team and customers will see the store dedicate 200m2 as an educational space called the Meccaversity auditorium, along with the Mecca newsroom – a living, breathing broadsheet for breaking news. The store will feature a cafe called Cafe Mecca, ‘a homage to the city’s culinary scene’ and its local artists. The Bourke Street store has collaborated with Flowers Vasette, Trophy Wife by Chelsea Bagan, Sener Besim, jeweller and piercing service provider Maria Tash; and Melbourne Apothecary, a team of naturopaths and acupuncturists. The store also functions as a platform for Mecca M-Power, the brand’s initiative to champion gender equality through purpose-driven events and over 20 artworks by women curated by Charlotte Day.