Mecca's new flagship store is set to change the face of wellness

We can’t wait to drop by

After conquering the likes of makeup, skincare, body care and fragrance, beauty conglomerate Mecca is set to deep dive into the wonderful world of wellness, bringing to life a new concept store unlike anything on the market. 

After announcing their plans late last year, Mecca has finally unveiled details of their up-and-coming new multi-story beauty emporium in Melbourne’s CBD, revealing their much-anticipated expansion into the wellness industry. 

Set to open its door within the coming months, Mecca’s new store will shine a spotlight on the vast and exponential growth of the wellness industry in Australia, bringing the likes of gut boosters, sleep aids and holistic health to the front and centre. 

Initially breaking onto the scene as Australia’s home of beauty and makeup, Mecca quickly expanded its range and offerings to meet the skincare, body care and fragrance needs of Aussies everywhere – online and in-store. 

Now, the brand’s decision to shift towards all things wellness – perhaps its most ambitious move yet – is a direct reflection of the market’s ravenous interest in boosting well-being, something Mecca’s head of marketing and brands says has been fast-tracked by the events of the past few years. 

“I think that in the past five years, and Covid was probably an accelerator of this, that yearning for feeling good has meant that our customers, and customers more broadly, have introduced a number of new practices and initiatives into their lives. And I think that feeling good is becoming as important as looking good,” Marita Burke tells The Australian.

The concept store will still stock all your beauty, skincare and body care faves. Image: Mecca Max

What to expect in the new concept store

Taking up three storeys and 4000 square metres, the task of getting Mecca’s newest concept store up and running has been no small feat. Upon opening its doors shortly, the store will become the largest beauty retail space in the southern hemisphere.

To help stock the shelves and bring the best of wellness to Aussie consumers, Mecca will be introducing 15 new brands, making up six new product categories; sleep, calm, sensitised skin, rituals, cycles of life and gut. 

Some brands being welcomed into the Mecca Apothecary family are The Gut Cø, Britain’s AnatomÄ“, and functional fragrance and skincare brand The Nue Co.

In addition to offering new brands and products, Mecca is set to incorporate a number of wellness-focused services into the retail space, including consultations with naturopaths from health collective Melbourne Apothecary, breathwork sessions and sound baths.

Sound baths have become the go-to wellness experience of many. Image: Pexels

“[Our customer] is a really curious customer. It’s a customer that in some ways has a lot of very disciplined practices, where they are practising yoga on a daily basis, meditating daily, doing all of the right things … Some customers are just doing the 10,000 steps a day, they’ve just started and some customers are not doing anything, but they’ve heard about it,” says Burke.

“And so I think our role here is to introduce this concept to our customers, to bring it to life for them through the services and the experiences … I do think it’s putting a stake in the ground that Mecca really believes that wellbeing is a part of beauty; that those two areas are very complementary and that our customers really see the value in both.”

“Our vision for Mecca Bourke Street is for it to be the Mecca of all Meccas, a must-visit destination for any Melbournite or visitor. A place that people travel from around the world to visit. Where customers can spend the entire day there and still not have experienced all that there is to do,” Jo Horgan, founder and co-chief executive of Mecca, tells The Australian.

“No two visits will ever be the same.”

One thing is for sure, if you found it hard to pull yourself away from Mecca’s aesthetic displays and friendly experts before, you’ve got zero chance of walking out of this store empty-handed.

Originally published as Mecca's new flagship store is set to change the face of wellness