When Beauty Takes Over Bourke Street: Inside MECCA’s Dazzling Melbourne Flagship

August 8, 2025

Melbourne, Friday 8 August 2025 – 9:00am. A red carpet unfurls beneath a façade of crimson kisses and glowing letters that spell out a single word: MECCA. As the city stirs to life, Australia’s beauty behemoth does more than open its doors — it opens a new era in retail, artistry, and cultural storytelling. This isn’t just a store opening. It’s a coronation. And MECCA’s new Bourke Street flagship is nothing short of majestic.

A City’s Soul, Bottled and Buffed

Set in the heart of the CBD at 299 Bourke Street — the historic site of Cole’s Book Arcade — MECCA Bourke Street is a love letter to Melbourne, and a symphony of beauty, design, and experience. Across three vast levels and more than 4,000 square metres, it’s a place where luxury meets legacy. Where scent meets memory. Where lipstick meets legacy.

The building’s past lingers in its bones. Once hailed as the “grandest bookshop in the world,” Cole’s Arcade was a haven for dreamers — an ethos MECCA has reimagined in 2025 with hummingbird emblems, collectible golden medallions, and a devotion to joy that would make E.W. Cole proud. It’s not just nostalgia — it’s innovation with a heartbeat.

The Grand Opening: A Scene Worthy of Cinema

At 8:45am, with cameras flashing and anticipation humming louder than the espresso machines inside Café MECCA (shoutout to the 13 local partners including Lune, Mörk, and Seven Seeds), an immaculately dressed crowd gathers. Black-clad beauty advisors, content creators, and industry royalty line the entrance. MECCA’s Founder Jo Horgan — part goddess, part general — arrives in a bold fuchsia ensemble, scissors in hand, to cut the crimson ribbon.

The crowd cheers. Streamers fly. “HELLO MECCA,” the banner reads. 299 Bourke Street has officially entered its next chapter.

Behind the Velvet (and Lipstick-Stained) Curtain

While the public marveled at its grandeur, everAFTER was granted behind-the-scenes access — and it’s a wonderland. There are fragrance sommeliers guiding guests through scent journeys powered by PUIG’s AirParfum tech, a MECCA Newsroom broadcasting real-time content, and a MECCAVersity auditorium set to open in October for education and thought leadership.

And let’s not forget the services: 80+ unique offerings across makeup, skincare, hair, fragrance, and wellness. Private treatment rooms, artistry studios, an 8-chair Beauty Lab, and the clinical-grade Aesthetica suite remind us: MECCA isn’t playing in the beauty game — they’re rewriting the rules.

The Faces of Bourke Street

Behind the glamour are 300+ team members — 80% of whom were hired internally — each armed with bespoke Flagship Fit training. Roles like “concierge,” “fragrance sommelier,” “dermal clinician,” and even “calligrapher” add a couture-level touch to the in-store experience.

And then there are the collaborators. From Maria Tash’s piercing atelier to Josh Wood’s colour studio (his first international salon!), and local heroes like Trophy Wife, ŞENER BESIM, and Flowers Vasette — every detail is deliberate, every corner a curated experience.

Art, Purpose, and a Pinch of Provocation

More than a store, MECCA Bourke Street is an evolving cultural institution. The walls pulse with 26 artworks by women — curated by Charlotte Day — including an Atong Atem sightline piece, Diena Georgetti mosaics, and a dazzling Bethan Laura Wood chandelier. It’s radical retail meets museum-worthy design, anchored by a message of gender equality and empowerment through MECCA’s M-POWER initiatives.

And the pièce de résistance? The Medallion Program — where every completed service in the first month earns a gilded keepsake that unlocks surprise Bourke Street experiences. MECCA has brought back E.W. Cole’s dream tokens, but with a 21st-century twist.

A Postcard from the Future

It’s no accident that MECCA chose Melbourne — not just as its birthplace, but as its flagship frontier. This bold investment in people, place and purpose is more than commerce. It’s culture.

So what’s next? Expect Bourke Street to be MECCA’s laboratory for innovation: a testing ground for bold ideas, new formats, and immersive retail theatre. Every visit promises discovery, delight, and — of course — a little drama.