But every business has to have a soul and know what it can absolutely excel in, and for us, it is providing customers with this all-consuming experience. J.H. That has given us enormous confidence for Melbourne. Joanna Elizabeth Horgan launched her first Mecca store on Toorak Road in South Yarra in 1997, 25 years ago. It brings me sinful amounts of joy and pride to announce that come April, you'll be able to find @gotoskincare in ALL AUS AND NZ MECCA STORES!! I wake up every day and say, Gosh, isnt there so much to do, isnt there so much opportunity to grow and build and expand and so much opportunity to improve what were doing in the here and now.. Living in Melbourne, Australia, she quit her project management job at French cosmetics giant L'Oreal, and launched her own company, which she called Mecca. These include her husband and Mecca's co-owner Peter Wetenhall, who joined the business full time in 2005 as co-chief executive. That is pretty irreplaceable. Service is not subservient, it is a professional endeavour. : I like to think if we put our minds to creating product that is worthy of our customers, we would have to set ourselves a standard that it would be worthy of customers anywhere. J.H. I used to do education sessions for two hours every second Tuesday night. James W. Horgan July 31, 2022 James W. Horgan, age 82 of Paris, passed away Sunday, July 31, 2022 at Railside Assisted Living Center in Byron Center. How will you approach narrowing down markets? Petes job at BCG gave me real independence and the space to be an entrepreneur. What does that mean for us? Published on August 7, 2022 11:26 AM. Jeweller Sener Besim worked with Horgan at the now-defunct department store Georges, where Mecca had an early concession. Weve crafted a globally unique model that is proven where it is equal parts customer obsession, brand service and team engagement. But its bigger than her.. While Mecca has grown steadily over the past 21 years it has not all be plain sailing. Gloria Hwang & Kevin Choi. I think I had very lofty ambitions that I wanted to create a new customer experience, but it wasnt about being a pioneer. She is full of life, she has incredible energy and she is absolutely passionate about her business and the beauty industry, said Francois Nars, whose namesake brand has been sold at Mecca since the beginning and is today the top-ranking brand there. Early next year, youll open an even larger store thats 40,000 square feet in Melbourne. "I think I have enough self-awareness to know there are so many areas I'm not good at. So building and driving our signature line business has not been a priority. Australian entrepreneurship Jo Horgan turned a love of makeup into 87-strong chain of cosmetics stores. So how do we use that for good?. The thing about Mecca is that it is Jo all over, says a Mecca team member. She realised early that she wasnt fabulous at being a tiny cog in a big machine, which ticked me over into an entrepreneurial space. Jo Horgan and co-chief executive Peter Wetenhall are looking at expanding Mecca's business beyond Australia and New Zealand. Our purpose why we roll out of bed and choose this one thing to do above all other life choices was to make people look, feel and be their best. Read about our approach to external linking. Contact. Yes, of course a customer can run in and self-navigate and process it quickly and they can do it through click-and-collect or endless aisle or use their app. Within three years, Mecca was starting to make waves, acting as importer, distributor and brand manager for niche brands that previously had no presence in Australia, disrupting the Myer/David Jones premium beauty duopoly and attracting the attention of industry leaders such as Estee Lauder chairman Leonard Lauder. Help using this website - Accessibility statement. I dont wake up and say, Gosh, arent I successful, she says. But hold on to your hat, Dorothy. Credit: Charles Sykes/Bravo. | Learn more about Tim Horgan's work experience, education, connections & more by . If not me, who? she says. The guiding principle was to make people feel good, she says now, as a waiter pops by with Horgans order a pot of hot water (Its all I drink, ever. J.H. Itll be so exciting.. This year's winner will be chosen by a globally diverse panel of independent judges, based on six criteria that measure long-term value. For Horgan, the business is now at a place where she can take its mantra of empowerment magic, and spread it even further. WWD and Women's Wear Daily are part of Penske Media Corporation. Behind . "Given the sheer size of the industry, Mecca has a market share of less than 3%, despite its 70-plus stores," she says. This was about 50% of all the recorded Horgan's in USA. Looking at Horgan now, it feels preordained that she would be here, at the top of a beauty empire that has all but toppled the department stores and has left LVMH-owned Sephora in the dust. Krissy Johnson & Tony Raftis . Jo needs to dream, and keeping the company as it is allows her to dream big, on her terms.. Photograph by Gareth McConnell for The New Yorker. By the third time its clear to everyone that she has run out of excuses. Jo Horgan with husband and business partner Peter Wetenhall. We have an incredible connection with our customers. Sales across retail, distribution and online are more than $500 million, giving the privately owned company more than 20 per cent of the $2.4 billion premium beauty market. What did you learn? What I wanted was not being served by the established model., Mecca founder Jo Horgan believed there was a better way to sell cosmetics. PARIS -- Joanne Ruth Horgan, 79, of Paris, passed away Saturday, Aug. 1, 2020. It is actually the number-one customer recruiter into Mecca and a very different customer profile. Why did we turn our mind to design? And we truly believe we are making a difference to the world. Log In. Join us for a March Madness Webinar on Tuesday, March 7 at 8pm ET. Jo is quietly powerful, he says. Jo received a first degree degree from University of Western Australia. I think our strongest levers are our obsession with the customer, our ability to build an extraordinarily knowledgeable and engaged team who provide a completely differentiated experience and to provide a shopping environment that feels more like a home interior that you would love to hang out in as opposed to a transactional retail environment. Then we said, can we expand this through to jewelry as adornment, so were doing piercings, solderings, engraving. I love what I do, on all different levels, she says, after feigning offence that in asking whats next? Ive suggested she ought to think about retirement. You know that saying about the first 20 years, youre getting it all together; the next 20 years, youre living; the next 20, youre meant to be giving back. What the judges said: Jock is creating business and a living wage for Aboriginal communities. Australian entrepreneurship Jo Horgan turned a love of makeup into 87-strong chain of cosmetics stores. In 2016, Horgan launched M-Power, Meccas charitable arm. : Nearly 95 percent of our sales are done with brands that are exclusive and sit in the Mecca brand management model. Born in 23 Mar 1909 and died in 26 Oct 1975 Evansville, Indiana Mary Josephine "Mae Jo" Horgan McClurg When Ms Horgan left L'Oreal to set up Mecca she was just 29. AOC under investigation for Met Gala dress, Mother who killed her five children euthanised, Alex Murdaugh jailed for life for double murder, Zoom boss Greg Tomb fired without cause, The children left behind in Cuba's exodus, US sues Exxon over nooses found at Louisiana plant, Sacred coronation oil will be animal-cruelty free. Make-up for men is set to be the next big global beauty trend, according to Jo Horgan, founder of the Australian cosmetics retailing giant Mecca. She adopted a brand-agnostic approach and hired passionate staff who sold products on their merits. We catch up with Jo Horgan to learn her secrets. What has enabled Mecca to be so successful? And I see it as my role to ensure they are successful thats where the curling analogy comes into it.. For Horgan, leaning in and giving back are one and the same. So if a customer wanted to buy a number of different brands, she or he would have to walk from counter to counter. Nineteen years later, Mecca Brands has more than 100 Mecca Cosmetica and Mecca Maxima stores in Australia and New Zealand, opening 18 stores since August 2018. : Our entire focus is customer-centric and our owned brands have been built to fill gaps that we dont feel we can fill otherwise. Robbie Fimmano It's early March and about 400 people have filled the Great Hall of the NGV for a lunch to mark International Women's Day. Of the top 100 architecture firms in the world, just three are run by women.. Sample it to their hearts content. What hasnt worked is not being able to visit and to accelerate the plans at the rate we would like to, and having really lumpy data due to all of the COVID-19 restrictions. The downside is it is more chaotic than other organizations. . As a frequent and dedicated customer of Mecca, and a long time admirer of Jo Horgan and what she has created within the Aussie beauty industry, it's so exciting to be part of the family. Julie & Christopher James. Follow the topics, people and companies that matter to you. The second, she invites them to sit. : We feel weve weathered really significant events to date we had to tap dance through a global financial crisis in 2008 when we were much smaller. Mecca is becoming more of a gifting environment, so we have a whole gift bar, where you can choose different papers and ribbons and wrappings. "I try to recruit really strong people around me, and then give them enough rope to be able to learn in a way I learned. J.H. The Bourke Street Mall store is opening next year. Were taking an agile approach, because were very cognizant that the beauty landscape is ever changing at warp speed and its our job to predict where its going and to make sure we can continually adapt and evolve to always be ahead of the market. The other side was a little more realistic: to have 10 stores doing $30 million in sales within the first five years. As a child Jo Horgan liked to watch when her mother put on her makeup, Mecca is an extensive user of social media, Mecca's stores bring high-end cosmetics under one roof, Ms Horgan runs the business with her husband Peter Wetenhall, Mecca now has 87 outlets across Australia and New Zealand. How has your role in the business changed as its grown? She mimes folding the paper carefully, the way Mecca customers do. J.H. It is incredibly impressive, and takes more work than most imagine.. in gangster hideouts in wisconsinBlog by ; jo horgan family . I loved cosmetics I thought there was a real space for them that should be fun and entertaining. And he was super-supportive of me doing it, and he participated from the beginning. An early inspiration was the Hempel Hotel in London, a study in refined minimalism that married British restraint with Japanese zen. J.H. F inal. Find your friends on Facebook. And you can be all of those things as you take this wild, wild ride. Horgan's father Pat died when he was 18 months old, leaving his mother Alice to raise him along with his three siblings. I give them permission to fail fast and fail forward, and permission to be really ambitious and take considered risks. Sign Up. : To mark our 25th, we went to see Jim Collins, the author of Good to Great, because Ive been an absolute devotee since I first read his book in 2003. It works with partner charities such as Stars Foundation, which encourages Indigenous girls to continue their education, and Skyline Foundation, which helps young women in Victoria finish their secondary studies despite adversity. J.H. And when they are ready, they will come back. For more information, visit tempus.com. Because Jo Horgan has quite a lot to say. Premier John Horgan, seen here on Oct. 2, said Thursday that a growth he found on his throat several months ago has been confirmed as cancerous. Silvia Hsieh & Alessandro Diamanti. That was a hit to the bottom line that allowed customers to have their Mecca magic delivered. I always tell the team, a lipstick is a lipstick is a lipstick until you breathe life, hopes and dreams into it. Turning Mecca into a $572 million retail juggernaut has set Jo Horgan up to pursue her next venture: a collaboration with the NGV to promote women designers. She is clear on what she wants, but its all done very elegantly, very determinedly, out of the spotlight. How would the affiliate model work on an international level? Even if they dont buy anything. We have over 4 million women on our database. Stars develops long-term, shared-value partnerships with organisations that have a commitment to empowering Indigenous girls and young women through education. "Bring it on. The eldest of a family of four, he was just 16 when he was arrested on suspicion of raping and killing Rachel (22) on October 26, 2000. Based in Central NY, with its abundant supply of top-of-the-line milk, Byrne Dairy works with local family farms to give our customers nationwide the best dairy products each day. Jo Horgan's Phone Number and Email Last Update. Southern Utah. J.H. In her British accent, with vowels that remain unflattened despite living in Australia for almost four decades, Horgan talks and talks. That hurt too, but as Horgan says: You cant have a holiday without fragrance.. j***@mecca.com.au. What Im doing is not what they have done. But, she adds, Its brilliant that they are being overt about what they are doing. Our website relaunches as mecca.com.au, housing over 7,000 products from more than 100 brands. 2023 Fairchild Publishing, LLC. And I think that if you said that to her, shed actually be really happy. Really, it is about giving people the opportunities they need to thrive. Shes funny, self-effacing and loves to laugh, a big picture thinker whos able to set a strategic vision for the business, rouse the teams with a rallying cry and execute impeccably. Lauren Sams is the fashion editor, based in Sydney. She is effusive in her praise, saying that Jo and her team have kept pace in an industry that moves at breakneck pace. In it, an emerging female Australian artist would be commissioned to create packaging for Mecca during the Christmas period. The British-born, Perth-raised English literature and communications graduate was working in the marketing . Horgan is quick to remark that, whatever the focus she gives to M-Power, her philanthropy is fuelled by her business. He was super-seminal in the business. Engage via Email. Mary Jo Horrigan Dever. That all comes from her., Her mentor, Country Road founder Stephen Bennett, has met with Horgan every month for 25 years. The commissioning of these five major works will, Horgan hopes, go some way to correcting the gender imbalance in the world of art and design. Jo Horgan has spent the last 25 years building the business she founded, Mecca, into Australias largest prestige beauty retailer. Mary Horgan. Im already wired enough.). They are leading a necessary charge for others to follow; not only women but anyone who recognises that the arts are for everyone., Tony Ellwood is one of those people. Education has always been our lever, for our team and for our customers. EY World Entrepreneur Of The Year TM celebrates the entrepreneurs who inspire us all to build a better world. Horgans parents, who brought her to Australia to live at 14, had their own businesses: her mother ran a mail-order fashion start-up; her father owned factories that made yarn and clothing for the likes of Marks & Spencer. I love it to pieces, she says. Mecca Brands ASIC statement for calendar year 2016 shows that the company's revenue was $287 million, up from $188.9 million in . Here, as she prepares for the next phase of growth, Horgan reflects on Meccas role in the beauty landscape and her plans for whats next. Horgan describes her leadership style as akin to that of sweepers in the sport of curling. Sometimes I use the analogy that my role is to act as the ice smoother in the game of curling. At LOreal, where she worked in marketing after graduating from Boston University (she completed a masters in mass communication, at one point musing on a career in journalism), an entrepreneurial approach was encouraged.