When Mecca opens its new flagship on Melbourne’s Bourke St in the new year, it will lay claim to being one of the world’s largest beauty boutiques. Three times the size of the flagship in Sydney, a glam totem straddling George St and Market St, Mecca Melbourne will be set over three levels spanning 4000 square metres.

In getting here, Mecca has managed to subvert one of global business’ most enduring phenomena: despite having the financial weight of luxury goods giant LVMH, which has owned Sephora since 1997, and being No.1 in almost every other territory, Sephora has struggled to depose Mecca on its home ground.