Mecca opened its flagship Bourke Street store in August last year and is seeing 50,000 shoppers walk through weekly. (Source: Mecca/Getty)
Mecca has reported record revenue and profit in a “milestone year” for the Aussie beauty giant. The company took a major gamble opening its flagship Bourke Street store in Melbourne’s CBD last year, and it seems to have paid off, with tens of thousands of shoppers walking through its doors weekly.
Mecca’s parent company RTCH reported a total profit of $125.9 million from revenue of $1.43 billion for the year to December 31, new filings reveal. This was up from a profit of $111.1 million and revenue of $1.36 billion reported the year prior.
The cosmetics company, which is entirely owned by founder Jo Horgan and her husband Peter Wetenhall, is now the dominant cosmetics retailer in Australia, beating out competitor Sephora.
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RTCH reported dividends worth $86 million, which were slightly below the $110 million declared last year.
A Mecca spokesperson said 2025 had been a “milestone year” for the retailer, with the opening of Mecca Bourke Street a particularly special moment.
“Seeing on average 50,000 customers walk through the doors each week is a powerful reminder that people still value connection, expertise and the experience of discovering beauty in person,” the spokesperson told The Australian.
“At the same time, the rapid growth of our app shows how naturally digital can sit alongside that experience.
“Bringing the world’s best beauty brands to our customers has always been at the heart of what we do, and we have an exciting pipeline of launches ahead.”
It comes after Mecca was handed a nearly $600,000 fine from ASIC for failing to lodge audited financial reports on time for the year ending December 28, 2024.
Mecca is entirely owned by founder Jo Horgan and her husband Peter Wetenhall. (Source: Newswire)
Mecca was founded in 1997 and has since grown to employ more than 7,000 staff at more than 110 stores.
Along with the three-storey flagship Bourke Street store, which cost nearly $50 million to fit out, it added four additional stores, including at Adelaide airport and Cairns, last year.
The retailer also brought more than 40 new brands into its stable, including Victoria Beckham Beauty, Phlur, and Youth to the People.
In February, it launched Hailey Bieber’s makeup brand Rhode in Australia, bringing queues of customers keen to be the first to buy the products like the Glazing Milk and Peptide Lip Treatments in Australia and generating a reported $11 million in sales.
It inked the deal over competitor Sephora, which sells the brand in other markets internationally.
Sephora has not yet lodged its financial accounts. It reported a rise in annual sales to $337.7 million in 2024, up from $313.9 million in 2023. However, net loss for the year was $13.4 million.
Sephora has more than 30 stores in Australia, with its flagship store in Sydney’s Pitt Street Mall. Since it entered Australia in 2014, its cumulative losses now total more than $78 million.
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