Mecca (company)

Australian beauty retailer

Mecca

Mecca Maxima store in Westfield Carousel

Company type| Private
Industry| Retail
Founded| 1997; 28 years ago (1997) in South Yarra, Australia
Founder| Jo Horgan
Headquarters|

Richmond, Victoria

Number of locations

| 100+ (2024)

Area served

* Australia
* New Zealand
* United Kingdom

Key people

* Jo Horgan (co-CEO)
* Peter Wetenhall (co-CEO)

Number of employees

| 7400+ (2024)
Website| mecca.com

Mecca is an Australian beauty retailer. The company was founded by Jo Horgan in 1997. There are over 110 Mecca stores across Australia and New Zealand, in addition to an online store. Mecca employs more than 7000 people, with products from 200-plus brands.[1]

## History

[edit]

Mecca was founded in 1997 when Jo Horgan, then 29 years old, used the funds from the sale of her house to open the company's first store in the Melbourne suburb of South Yarra.[2] The company launched with seven brands unavailable in Australia including NARS, Stila and Vincent Longo.[1][3] In its first four years, the business lost money.[4]

Mecca launched its online store in 2001.[2] Horgan's husband Peter Wetenhall joined her as co-CEO in 2005.[5] The first Mecca store opened in New Zealand in 2007.[6]

In 2017, Mecca discontinued its Kit beauty product brand and closed its related stores.[7][8] The same year the company launched its Mecca Max brand.[3] In 2018, the company held its first Meccaland, a three-day beauty festival.[1]

In late 2019, the company faced allegations of discrimination, bullying and favouritism from some former and then-current employees. The company pledged to make changes, including establishing a complaints hotline and appointing an external culture specialist.[9]

The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic led Mecca to temporarily close all its stores for part of 2020 and shift its business focus to online.[10][11] In August 2020, Mecca began selling into China through the ecommerce platform Tmall Global, although it pulled out in November 2023.[12]

In July 2021, the company launched a podcast called Mecca Talks.[13] In August 2022, Mecca relaunched its Kit brand as a gender-neutral, plant-based skincare range.[7]

In 2023, an independent review commissioned by the company found that 1600 current and former employees had been underpaid between July 2016 and July 2022 and were owed a combined total of about $560,000. The company paid back the employees.[14]

In June 2023, Mecca expanded to the UK by selling its best-selling product, the To Save Face SPF50+ Superscreen, on its UK website.[15]

Mecca will open its new Melbourne flagship store in August, 2025. It will be situated in a building that was built in 1929, previously a Coles retail store and then the David Jones menswear store, at 299 Bourke Street. It spans 4,000sq m over three levels.[16]

Mecca is launching its first Mecca Apothecary concept as part of its new flagship store in Melbourne.[17] This space will incorporate services such as consultations with naturopaths from health collective Melbourne Apothecary, ear seeds, and products ranging from teas to tongue scrapers. It will introduce 15 new brands, which will fit into one of six categories - sleep, calm, sensitised skin, rituals, cycles of life and gut.[18]

The company's flagship store in Bourke Street Mall, Melbourne, will become the largest beauty retail space in the Southern Hemisphere.[19]

## Operations

[edit]

Jo Horgan leads the business with her husband Peter Wetenhall who is co-owner and co-chief executive.[2] The company's headquarters and support centre is located in Richmond.[20]

There are over 100 Mecca stores across Australia and New Zealand.[1] Mecca has three types of stores: Mecca Cosmetica, the original prestige boutique concept; Mecca Maxima, aimed at younger consumers; and Mecca, which combines both concepts.[1] Additionally, Mecca has concessions in seven Myer department stores, as of 2023.[1] Some Mecca stores also offer services such as ear piercing, facials, injectables, brow shaping and blow dries.[21]

Most of the brands Mecca stocks (around 70% in 2024)[22] are exclusive to the company in Australia.[21][1] Mecca manages sales, marketing and distribution for its brands.[21] Mecca's private label brands are Mecca Cosmetica, Mecca Max, Kit and Mecca-ssentials.[1]

The company has over 7400 employees.[23] Staff receive 200 hours of training in their first year.[2] Meccaversity—the company's beauty education portal—was developed and launched for employees in May 2020 and later opened up to customers.[24][1] Mecca services 4.5 million customers across Australia. Mecca's loyalty program is called Beauty Loop. It has 2.9 million members, as of 2025. [25]

## Charitable contributions

[edit]

In 2017, Mecca launched its social change program, M-Power, which donates money to a number of charities.[26] In 2022, M-Power was relaunched, with the company committing $25 million over five years to advancing gender equality.[27]

Mumbai-born, London-based designer Nipa Doshi was selected as the recipient of the 2025 Mecca x NGV Women in Design Commission, a series inviting designers to create new work for the NGV collection.[28]

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i "'We don't want to die wondering': Jo Horgan on Mecca's biggest bet yet". Australian Financial Review. 27 March 2025. Retrieved 14 May 2025.
2. ^ a b c d Mitchell, Sue (6 August 2019). "Jo Horgan, the accidental cosmetics queen". Australian Financial Review. Retrieved 24 February 2024.
3. ^ a b Rippon, Remy (6 April 2018). "Mecca Cosmetica's Jo Horgan on the business of beauty and being at the helm of a multi-million dollar operation". Vogue Australia. Retrieved 25 February 2024.
4. ^ LaFrenz, Carrie (30 November 2023). "Rich Lister Jo Horgan's Mecca spits off $12 million dividend for 2022". Australian Financial Review. Retrieved 24 February 2024.
5. ^ Sprague, Julie-anne (16 April 2023). "Stay private and persevere: How Jo Horgan made Mecca a retail giant". Australian Financial Review. Retrieved 17 December 2024.
6. ^ Shaw, Aimee (20 February 2018). "Mecca opens two new Auckland stores". NZ Herald. Retrieved 17 December 2024.
7. ^ a b Joyce, Emma (2 August 2022). "After Five Years, Australian Beauty Brand Kit Is Back with a New Look and Gender-Neutral, Plant-Based Products". Broadsheet. Retrieved 24 February 2024.
8. ^ Hui-Miller, Jo-Anne (16 August 2022). ""Think lab coat meets nature": Mecca reimagines long-lost sister brand Kit". Inside Retail Australia. Retrieved 24 February 2024.
9. ^ Powell, Dominic (17 November 2019). "'It's all fake': Beauty giant Mecca facing bullying claims". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 24 February 2024.
10. ^ Ruzzene, Michelle (30 March 2020). "Mecca, MAC latest companies to fall victim to Covid-19". Retail Beauty. Retrieved 17 December 2024.
11. ^ Weil, Jennifer (6 June 2021). "Mecca Cosmetica's Chief on Building the Store of Tomorrow". WWD. Retrieved 17 December 2024.
12. ^ Sams, Lauren (18 August 2020). "Mecca makes play for Chinese market". Australian Financial Review. Retrieved 24 February 2024.
13. ^ Abaño, Joyce (22 July 2021). "Listen up: Why Mecca is tuning in to the world of podcasting". Inside Retail Australia. Retrieved 25 February 2024.
14. ^ Koehn, Emma (23 March 2023). "Beauty retailer Mecca discovers it owes staff $560,000". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 24 February 2024.
15. ^ Conti, Samantha (16 June 2023). "Australia's Mecca to Debut in Europe With Bestselling SPF Cream". WWD. Retrieved 24 February 2024.
16. ^ https://www.ft.com/content/d33f5e33-aaef-4a3a-a69d-9c1172b82615
17. ^ https://www.afr.com/life-and-luxury/fashion-and-style/we-don-t-want-to-die-wondering-jo-horgan-on-mecca-s-biggest-bet-yet-20250219-p5lddf
18. ^ https://www.afr.com/life-and-luxury/fashion-and-style/we-don-t-want-to-die-wondering-jo-horgan-on-mecca-s-biggest-bet-yet-20250219-p5lddf
19. ^ https://www.afr.com/life-and-luxury/fashion-and-style/we-don-t-want-to-die-wondering-jo-horgan-on-mecca-s-biggest-bet-yet-20250219-p5lddf
20. ^ Xidias, Angelica (19 July 2023). "Office tour: inside Mecca's functional and light-filled support centre". Vogue Australia. Retrieved 24 February 2024.
21. ^ a b c Sams, Lauren; Sprague, Julie-anne (4 June 2021). "How two Melbourne entrepreneurs stole the beauty market". Australian Financial Review. Retrieved 24 February 2024.
22. ^ Pitt, Sophie (24 November 2024). "Can Sephora Outshine Mecca?". Beauty Matter. Retrieved 17 December 2024.
23. ^ Sams, Lauren; LaFrenz, Carrie (1 November 2024). "How Mecca outfoxed Sephora in the Australian beauty glow-up". Australian Financial Review. Retrieved 18 November 2024.
24. ^ Hui-Miller, Jo-Anne (17 September 2021). "Class is in session: Get schooled on skincare at MECCAversity". Inside Retail Australia. Retrieved 24 February 2024.
25. ^ Murphy, Paige (27 November 2020). "RESET - MECCA founder Jo Horgan on the brand's most powerful marketing lever - AdNews". www.adnews.com.au. Retrieved 24 February 2024.
26. ^ "MECCA M-POWER". www.mecca.com. Retrieved 16 December 2024.
27. ^ "Proudly sharing M-POWER's 2023 Impact...and we're just getting started". MECCA. Retrieved 16 December 2024.
28. ^ https://www.ngv.vic.gov.au/media_release/mecca-x-ngv-women-in-design-commission-2025-nipa-doshi/

## External links

[edit]

* Official website