Why Kiwis Should Pay A Visit To Mecca’s New Melbourne Flagship Store

In this Viva exclusive, Mecca chief new concepts officer Maria Tsaousis shares the inspiration behind Mecca Aesthetica and Mecca Apothecary - two fresh concepts to launch inside the brand’s biggest retail space yet.

Cult beauty retailer Mecca opened the doors to its new Melbourne flagship store earlier this month, with thousands of customers lining up before dawn to get their first glimpse at the brand’s multi-level extravaganza.

NZ Herald’s Jenni Mortimer was on the ground to offer an inside look at the space that has reimagined Melbourne’s iconic Cole’s Book Arcade into every beauty lover’s dream.

A dancing parade swept the historic arcade on opening day - Friday, August 8 - a celebratory prelude to the ribbon-cutting ceremony helmed by founder and co-CEO Jo Horgan.

From 9am, the doors swung open, welcoming a flurry of beauty aficionados inside, where they could find more than 80 services and 200 brands.

Founded in 1997 in South Yarra, and with the first New Zealand store opening in Ponsonby in 2007, Mecca now has more than 100 stores, of which 13 are in New Zealand. The new opening is the brand’s largest store yet.

For Maria Tsaousis, Mecca’s chief new concepts officer, the new Bourke St store ushers in a new era of experiential retail for the brand, which she calls “the most ambitious expression” of the brand to date.

“It’s a love letter to beauty, to our customers and to Melbourne. Every corner of the space is designed to spark discovery, from the Beauty Carousel to the Meccaversity auditorium,” she says.

Below, Maria shares the inspiration behind two of Mecca’s most impressive new concepts - Mecca Aesthetica and Mecca Apothecary - both of which offer even more reason to fly across the Ditch to experience everything the new store has to offer.

ASHLEIGH COMETTI: How do you brainstorm new concepts to add into the fold at Mecca?

MARIA TSAOUSIS: Everything we do at Mecca begins with listening to our customers, our team, and the changing shape of the beauty landscape. Both Mecca Aesthetica and Mecca Apothecary are the result of years of dreaming, refining and responding to what our community has been telling us they want: deeper expertise, greater personalisation and a more holistic approach to beauty.

AC: How long were both Aesthetica and Apothecary in the works for?

MT: These concepts have been in the works for several years, road-tested in concept stores like our Mecca Aesthetica clinic in West Melbourne, and shaped by global insight and local expertise.

AC: Why did you feel Bourke St would be the best place to launch these new concepts?

MT: Mecca was born in Melbourne, so opening our most ambitious store ever on Bourke St, the city’s beating retail heart, just made sense. With 4000sqm to play with, Bourke St gave us the space and scale to not only introduce but fully realise these new concepts in a way that feels immersive, generous and uniquely Mecca, making it the most natural and only place to launch these concepts on a brand-new scale.

AC: What can Viva readers expect when stepping into either of these concept spaces inside the Bourke St store?

At Mecca Apothecary, it’s all about the beauty within. Spanning 220sqm, it’s a calming, artful space where customers can explore wellness tools, experience practitioner-led services like naturopathy and acupuncture, or simply pause at our education board and explore a ritual that speaks to them. Think of it as inner and outer beauty in complete harmony.

We’ve partnered with The Melbourne Apothecary to bring naturopaths, nutritionists and TCM (traditional Chinese medicine) practitioners into the fold. Their presence ensures that everything from supplement recommendations to acupuncture sessions is grounded in true expertise. For us, essential wellbeing is deeply personal, and we wanted to offer care that’s as individual as our customers are.

AC: What new brands can Viva readers expect to see at Mecca Aesthetica that go beyond the brand’s current skincare offering?

MT: We’re incredibly excited to introduce a suite of new-to-Mecca clinical brands at Aesthetica, including Biologique Recherche, Dr Few, Ultra MD and ZO Health. These brands represent the very best in results-driven, professional skincare, with decades of research and science behind every formulation. They’re high-tech, high-performance and guided by our trusted dermal therapists to ensure our customers get the most out of their skin treatments and routines.

AC: How did you decide which treatments were worthy of being part of Mecca Aesthetica?

MT: We’ve spent nearly three decades earning our place as a trusted skin authority, so every treatment in Mecca Aesthetica had to live up to that trust. We spoke to our brands founded by dermatologists and we worked with our most experienced dermal therapists to curate a menu that’s results-focused, science-backed and can be completely personalised. We trialled many of these treatments through our Aesthetica concept store, refining every step, from technology and protocols to how we support customers before, during and after each service.

AC: A handful of treatments are ones backed by brands. How did you work with brands to develop these?

MT: We worked hand-in-hand with our best-in-class skincare brands to bring their globally renowned treatments to life. From Kate Somerville’s signature Oxygen Facial, straight from her LA clinic, to Augustinus Bader’s facial technique, The Method, these treatments are designed to deliver serious results. Every service has been co-developed with the brand to stay true to their in-clinic protocols, while aligning with Mecca’s expert care and signature service. It’s the best of both worlds.

AC: How do you feel Apothecary is complementary to what is currently available from Mecca?

MT: We’ve always believed that beauty is a whole-of-self experience: how you look, how you feel, how you live. Mecca Apothecary is a natural extension of that philosophy. It’s where wellness meets beauty, offering rituals and remedies that support sleep, gut health, stress, hormonal health and life transitions like pregnancy and menopause. Before the serum and the lipstick comes a good night’s sleep, a calm mind, and balanced wellbeing. That’s the foundation Apothecary is built on.

AC: What brands and services comprise Mecca Apothecary, and what makes you feel excited about each one?

MT: There are more than 20 thoughtfully chosen wellness brands, many of them new to Mecca: anatomē, The Nue Co, The Gut Co, Herbar, and AMAN Essentials, to name a few. Each has been selected for its integrity, efficacy and alignment with Mecca’s philosophy on helping customers look and feel their best. Our partnership with The Melbourne Apothecary brings practitioner-led services like naturopathy, acupuncture and breathwork to the space, making the experience not just about products, but about personalised support. We’ve also introduced Mecca-exclusive services like Gua Sha lessons and ritual design, helping our customers build routines that nourish from the inside out.

AC: Where are you likely to roll the Mecca Aesthetica and Mecca Apothecary concepts out next?

MT: While Bourke St is our innovation hub, we absolutely see a future for both concepts across our store network. This flagship is our testing ground what we learn here will shape how we evolve our offering in other locations. We’re taking the time to listen, refine and scale thoughtfully.

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