Looking good: a new Mecca Maxima flagship and a booming cosmetics sector

The news that Mecca Maxima is taking up a much larger site in Queen Street for a new concept store, opening later this year, is just the latest in a stream of new openings amidst a booming cosmetics sector.

Marketview reported in the March edition of its National Consumer Spending Series that spending on cosmetics has increased by 13.4% in the past 12 months, with higher value purchases an important part of this growth.

Here in the city centre, health and beauty spending, which includes cosmetics, in the city centre was up 14.3% in March compared to the same month last year.

The city centre is replete with health & beauty retailers, from the traditional department store makeup counters at Smith & Caughey's and Farmers to standalone stores including M.A.C, Chanel, Aesop, Elizabeth Arden, Kiehl's, L'Occitane, Jo Malone, Makeup Direct, Bobbi Brown and LoveMyMakeup, which has recently opened a second Queen Street store.

We asked Matthew Lord, Managing Director for LoveMy Makeup, why they’ve doubled down on the city’s golden mile and he says that Queen St is becoming the heart of makeup for Auckland so he wants to have the area well covered.

“Queen St is a great retail destination. Because we offer makeup at lower prices but with better service, Queen St is the idea spot for us to invest in with two stores. Additionally our new lower Queen St store has made ourselves more accessible to our loyal customers from our old Downtown Auckland.”

Marketview points to a trend towards specialist cosmetic stores which allow customers “an immersive, specialised experience.” This fits with what we're seeing more widely in retail as the sector embraces activation, experiences and community to meet consumer wants and needs in the digital age.