��it reimagines what experiential retail can be, fusing creativity, culture and collaboration to create something so much more than a store”.  The store is in a league of its own in Australia, offering a customer experience closer to Paris’s Galeries Lafayette Haussmann or London’s Selfridges or Harrods. The site was originally E.W Cole’s Book Arcade, the largest bookstore in the world at one point in time. Now, it’s home to one of the largest beauty stores in the world. Horgan began the design process in collaboration with Sydney-based firm Studio McQualter back in 2021 – a labour of love that is apparent in the restored original floors and windows, selection of local service outposts and gallery-quality artworks. The three-storey space is set to have more than 300 team members, stock over 200 cult brands and offer in excess of 80 services. But it’s the flagship’s eight distinct areas that reveal Mecca’s play to be a beauty authority beyond just product.  Mecca Perfumeria, Mecca Apothecary, Mecca Atelier, Meccaversity, Mecca Gift Box, Mecca Aesthetica, Mecca Newsroom and Mecca Cafe make up the “Mecca of Meccas”, a 4000sqm beauty emporium that doesn’t just trade on colour cosmetics. Mecca Perfumeria A 300sqm space dedicated to fragrance staffed with scent sommeliers. Customers can visit the top level of the flagship to find the light-filled perfumeria to discover fragrance services from brand partners and the ‘scentsorium’. Services include solo or group consultations to help customers find their scent, whether it’s for the everyday or their wedding. Meanwhile, the ‘scentsorium’ is a self-guided experience where customers can work their way through the seven scent families to find their specific scent. Mecca Apothecary  Mecca’s foray into holistic beauty is being led by the city’s leading naturopaths, The Melbourne Apothecary, in addition to 15 wellness brands. This zone of the Mecca flagship specialises in beauty from within by focusing on skin, hormones, sleep, stress, longevity, recovery and general wellbeing concerns. Practitioners offer a range of services, including naturopathy, acupuncture, ear seeding, face mapping, amongst other alternative therapies, in several treatment rooms. But it’s the walk-up pharmacy dispensing supplements that is due for heavy foot traffic. Mecca Atelier A one-stop in-store salon where customers can get their makeup, hair and nails done simultaneously – all in under 90 minutes. The atelier also brings together best-in-class experts under one roof, including world-leading colourist and hair stylist Josh Wood and Melbourne’s best manicurists, Trophy Wife. This offering takes the retailer’s 60- and 90-minute redeemable makeup services to a whole new level. Meccaversity Set to open in late 2025, the Meccaversity auditorium is a 200sqm education space dedicated to bringing customers and team members together for masterclasses and beauty school courses.  Mecca Gift Box A suite on the second floor is all about gifting, including personalised services like engraving and calligraphy. Beyond just boxing and wrapping, Mecca has created a shortcut for gift-giving with curated sections that cater to different demographics and interests. The Mecca Gift Box also stocks exclusive own-brand merch and limited items from designer brands, including Byredo blankets, Comme des Garçons purses and Dries Van Noten combs. Mecca Aesthetica Home of clinical skin treatments performed by expert dermal therapists and qualified registered nurses. The menu extends from facial treatments from acclaimed names like  Augustinus Bader and Dr Barbara Sturm to high-tech treatments like meso-needling, microdermabrasion, skin lasering, facials and chemical peels.  Cafe Mecca The Mecca cafe offers customers a moment of reprieve between shopping and appointments to recharge. And its menu is distinctly Melbourne with Pommery champagne, Seven Seeds coffee, Love Tea tea, Mork hot chocolate, Yarra Valley Caviar, Chappy’s chips, Madeleine De Proust madeleines and Lune croissants. This marks the first time the infamous croissanterie has ever sold wholesale. Mecca Bourke Street is the gold standard of experiential retail and with time, could prove that destination retail is still possible in an online world.