Mecca's huge new Bourke Street flagship store finally has an opening date – and it's very soon
The launch of the massive Bourke Street flagship store will mark the beginning of a bold era in Mecca's history, and set a new gold standard for experiential beauty retail. Spanning 4,000 square metres across three storeys (that's three times the size of Sydney's George Street store), it will play host to upwards of 200 leading beauty brands, 80-plus services and more than 300 team members. Oh, it's also estimated that 50,000 people will walk through the doors weekly.
Specifically designed as an all-day destination where no two visits are the same, what awaits inside can only be described as the beauty playground of your wildest dreams. There's the Perfumeria, aka an immersive fragrance gallery guided by scent sommeliers (yes, really); the Apothecary, where on-site naturopaths can advise on wellness issues relating to sleep and gut health; the Beauty Atelier, for hair, make-up and nail appointments; and Mecca Aesthetica, with seven private rooms for cosmetic consultations and clinical skin treatments like meso-needling and microdermabrasion.
But wait, there's more! The Meccaversity Auditorium is a world-first educational space that will offer a year-round program of events, workshops, masterclasses and brand founder talks. There's also a dedicated gifting area and a newsroom – where you can stay up to date on all the latest beauty news, of course. And because we know there's nothing worse than shopping on an empty stomach, there will even be a café on level one where you can refuel, complete with a custom marble bar and leather banquette seating.
One more thing: renowned Melbourne florist Flowers Vasette will also have an in-house cool room where you can pick up fresh blooms and bespoke arrangements. After all, there's nothing like a side of tulips to go with your purchase of Byredo's La Tulipe perfume.
'Mecca Bourke Street is the physical embodiment of our purpose – to embolden through beauty by helping people look, feel and be their best,' says Mecca founder and Co-CEO Jo Horgan. 'It reimagines what experiential retail can be, fusing creativity, culture, and collaboration to create something so much more than a store – it's the Mecca of all Meccas.'
There's beauty in the heritage-listed building itself, too. The exact location of the flagship store is 299 Bourke Street – which was originally the site of Cole's Book Arcade, once regarded as one of the largest and grandest book stores in the world. The space has been beautifully preserved in partnership with Studio McQualter, with original features like the arched windows, terrazzo flooring and shopfront tiles remaining.
So, who's ready for the beauty revolution? Find out more about the flagship store here and we'll see you there on August 8.
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Time Out
07-07-2025
- Time Out
Mecca's huge new Bourke Street flagship store finally has an opening date – and it's very soon
Hey, Beauty Loopers! You're going to want to clear your schedule on this day: Friday, August 8. Yep, after months of speculation on the official opening date (not to mention years of planning, construction and unexpected delays), the sparkling jewel in Mecca's crown is officially ready to open – and trust us when we say it's been worth the wait. The launch of the massive Bourke Street flagship store will mark the beginning of a bold era in Mecca's history, and set a new gold standard for experiential beauty retail. Spanning 4,000 square metres across three storeys (that's three times the size of Sydney's George Street store), it will play host to upwards of 200 leading beauty brands, 80-plus services and more than 300 team members. Oh, it's also estimated that 50,000 people will walk through the doors weekly. Specifically designed as an all-day destination where no two visits are the same, what awaits inside can only be described as the beauty playground of your wildest dreams. There's the Perfumeria, aka an immersive fragrance gallery guided by scent sommeliers (yes, really); the Apothecary, where on-site naturopaths can advise on wellness issues relating to sleep and gut health; the Beauty Atelier, for hair, make-up and nail appointments; and Mecca Aesthetica, with seven private rooms for cosmetic consultations and clinical skin treatments like meso-needling and microdermabrasion. But wait, there's more! The Meccaversity Auditorium is a world-first educational space that will offer a year-round program of events, workshops, masterclasses and brand founder talks. There's also a dedicated gifting area and a newsroom – where you can stay up to date on all the latest beauty news, of course. And because we know there's nothing worse than shopping on an empty stomach, there will even be a café on level one where you can refuel, complete with a custom marble bar and leather banquette seating. One more thing: renowned Melbourne florist Flowers Vasette will also have an in-house cool room where you can pick up fresh blooms and bespoke arrangements. After all, there's nothing like a side of tulips to go with your purchase of Byredo's La Tulipe perfume. 'Mecca Bourke Street is the physical embodiment of our purpose – to embolden through beauty by helping people look, feel and be their best,' says Mecca founder and Co-CEO Jo Horgan. 'It reimagines what experiential retail can be, fusing creativity, culture, and collaboration to create something so much more than a store – it's the Mecca of all Meccas.' There's beauty in the heritage-listed building itself, too. The exact location of the flagship store is 299 Bourke Street – which was originally the site of Cole's Book Arcade, once regarded as one of the largest and grandest book stores in the world. The space has been beautifully preserved in partnership with Studio McQualter, with original features like the arched windows, terrazzo flooring and shopfront tiles remaining. So, who's ready for the beauty revolution? Find out more about the flagship store here and we'll see you there on August 8.
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25-06-2025
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Victorian pharmacist's shop sells for almost £17,000 at auction
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Hajj in Mecca: The decades-old intrigue around an Indian guest house
As the annual Hajj pilgrimage draws to a close, a long-settled corner of Mecca is stirring up a storm thousands of miles away in India - not for its spiritual significance, but for a 50-year-old inheritance the heart of the controversy is Keyi Rubath, a 19th-Century guest house built in the 1870s by Mayankutty Keyi, a wealthy Indian merchant from Malabar (modern-day Kerala), whose trading empire stretched from Mumbai to near Islam's holiest site, Masjid al-Haram, the building was demolished in 1971 to make way for Mecca's expansion. Saudi authorities deposited 1.4 million riyals (about $373,000 today) in the kingdom's treasury as compensation, but said no rightful heir could be identified at the later, that sum - still held in Saudi Arabia's treasury - has sparked a bitter tussle between two sprawling branches of the Keyi family, each trying to prove its lineage and claim what they see as their rightful side has succeeded so far. For decades, successive Indian governments - both at the Centre and in Kerala - have tried and failed to resolve the remains unclear if Saudi authorities are even willing to release the compensation, let alone adjust it for inflation as some family members now demand - with some claiming it could be worth over $1bn today. Followers of the case note the property was a waqf - an Islamic charitable endowment - meaning descendants can manage but not own Saudi department that handles Awqaf (endowed properties) did not respond to the BBC's request for comment, and the government has made no public statement on the hasn't stopped speculation - about both the money and who it rightfully belongs is known about the guest house itself, but descendants claim it stood just steps from the Masjid al-Haram, with 22 rooms and several halls spread over 1.5 acres. According to family lore, Keyi shipped wood from Malabar to build it and appointed a Malabari manager to run it - an ambitious gesture, though not unusual for the time. Saudi Arabia was a relatively poor country back then - the discovery of its massive oil fields still a few decades Hajj pilgrimage and the city's importance in Islam meant that Indian Muslims often donated money or built infrastructure for Indian pilgrims his 2014 book, Mecca: The Sacred City, historian Ziauddin Sardar notes that during the second half of the 18th Century, the city had acquired a distinctively Indian character with its economy and financial well-being dependent on Indian Muslims."Almost 20% of the city's inhabitants, the largest single majority, were now of Indian origins – people from Gujarat, Punjab, Kashmir and Deccan, all collectively known locally as the Hindis," Sardar Saudi Arabia's oil wealth surged in the 20th century, sweeping development projects reshaped Mecca. Keyi Rubath was demolished three times, the final time in the early when the confusion around compensation appears to have started. According to BM Jamal, former secretary of India's Central Waqf Council, the Indian consulate in Jeddah wrote to the government back then, seeking details of Mayankutty Keyi's legal heir. "In my understanding, authorities were looking for the descendants to appoint a manager for the property, not to distribute the compensation money," Mr Jamal two factions stepped forward: the Keyis - Mayankutty's paternal family - and the Arakkals, a royal family from Kerala into which he had married. Both families traditionally followed a matrilineal inheritance system - a custom not recognized under Saudi law, adding further Keyis claim that Mayankutty died childless, making his sister's children his rightful heirs under matrilineal tradition. But the Arakkals claim he had a son and a daughter, and therefore, under Indian law, his children would be the legal inheritors. As the dispute dragged on, the story took on a life of its own. In 2011, after rumours swirled that the compensation could be worth millions, more than 2,500 people flooded a district office in Kannur, claiming to be Keyi's descendants."There were people who claimed that their forefathers had taught Mayankutty in his childhood. Others claimed that their forefathers had provided timber for the guest house," a senior Keyi family member, who wanted to stay anonymous, told the followed. State officials say in 2017 fraudsters posing as Keyi descendants duped locals into handing over money, promising a share of the compensation. Today, the case remains unresolved. Some descendants propose the best way to end the dispute would be to ask the Saudi government to use the compensation money to build another guest house for Hajj pilgrims, as Myankutti Keyi had others reject this, arguing that the guest house was privately owned, and so any compensation rightfully belongs to the argue that even if the family proves lineage to Mayankutty Keyi, without ownership documents, they're unlikely to gain Muhammed Shihad, a Kannur resident who has co-authored a book on the history of the Keyi and Arakkal families, though, the dispute is not just about the money - but about honouring the family's roots. "If they don't get the compensation, it would be worth openly recognising the family's and the region's connection to this noble act."
