As of October 29, 2026, Mecca has almost doubled the size of its store at Sydney's Macquarie Centre, replacing a 297 square metre Maxima format with a 570 square metre location and adding 40 brands. New names include Victoria Beckham Beauty, Byredo and Crown Affair, alongside eight make-up artist stations, semi-private skin beds, a dedicated beauty lab and a fragrance area. For retailers watching store formats, the refurbishment is a clear signal about where beauty traffic is being won.
A 297 sqm format becomes a 570 sqm destination
The change is not simply more shelf space. A Maxima format is built around accessible, high-turnover product, while the new layout allocates a large share of the floor to services and consultation. That shift changes the store's job: instead of competing on price and convenience against online retailers, it competes on the experience of choosing, which is the one thing a website cannot replicate.
Macquarie Centre's marketing manager described the refurbishment as strengthening the centre's position as a destination for beauty and lifestyle shopping. That framing matters, because a store of this size is effectively an anchor tenant for a category rather than a single shop. Centres use beauty destinations to extend dwell time, and dwell time is what converts a quick errand into a multi-store visit.
| Format | Floor area | Primary job | Main risk |
|---|---|---|---|
| Maxima format | 297 sqm | Product turnover | Weak differentiation |
| New destination format | 570 sqm | Range authority and services | Higher fixed cost |
| Service area | Inside the floor plate | Consultation and attachment | Depends on staffing |
| Online range | No floor space | Long tail and replenishment | Low experience value |
Space is being reallocated to services
Eight make-up stations and semi-private skin beds are expensive floor space. At 570 square metres, the store could have used the extra area for more shelving and more stock keeping units. Choosing services instead implies a view about where category growth will come from, and that view is that customers will pay for advice and application rather than for another row of products.
The economics work only if services lift basket size and visit frequency. A customer who books a skin consultation is more likely to buy the products recommended during it, and more likely to return when the products run out. That is a different revenue model from pure retail, and it needs different staffing, training and scheduling than a product-led store.
Range authority beats range size
Forty new brands is a large addition, but the number matters less than the overlap with what shoppers search for. If the added brands are the ones customers already look up online, the store becomes the place to compare them in person, and staff become the tie-breaker. Range authority is about being the default destination for a category, not about stocking the most products.
What the consumer trend looks like
Beauty is one of the few categories where shoppers still prefer to buy in person, largely because shade matching and skin advice are hard to do on a screen. That consumer trend is what makes a larger, service-heavy format viable at a time when many categories are shrinking their physical footprint. The risk is that the same trend invites competitors to copy the format quickly.
A checklist for a store upgrade
These four fields are enough to judge whether a bigger store is actually better. Floor area sets the denominator for productivity, brands added show whether the range gap was closed, service attach rate shows whether consultation converts, and visits per member shows whether the format created a habit. Without them, a refurbishment is judged on opening week crowds and anecdote.
FAQ
Why replace a smaller format instead of opening a second store?
Because the centre can only support one beauty destination of scale. Doubling the existing footprint keeps the customer relationship and the lease in one place, while a second store in the same centre would split traffic and duplicate operating costs.
What does adding 40 brands actually buy the retailer?
Range authority. A store that stocks the brands shoppers are searching for becomes the default place to compare them, which matters more online than offline. The brands also give staff a reason to start a conversation rather than just complete a transaction.
Are service areas profitable on their own?
Rarely. Make-up stations, skin beds and beauty labs usually work as traffic drivers that lift basket size and visit frequency rather than as standalone profit centres. The test is whether customers who use a service spend more per visit than those who do not.
How should a refurbishment be evaluated?
Compare the twelve weeks before and after on sales per square metre, visits per member, and share of sales from brands added in the refit. If only total sales rise while visits per member stay flat, the uplift is coming from one-off curiosity rather than a new habit.
