HISTORY OF THE OFFICE
In 1990, Jim Maitland was driving home from work and noticed a man hammering a “for sale” sign into the ground in front of an oddly shaped house with an abnormally large garage. After having a brief conversation with the gentleman, he found out the house was zoned for residential or commercial use. Jim wrote him a check on the spot and THE OFFICE was transformed from what was once an artist’s photography studio, into a golf showroom where Jim could display his latest apparel and equipment.
Jim and Jan Maitland now owned an office conveniently located just a few blocks down from their actual home. Occasionally throughout the summer, their children Jamie, Jennifer and Jimmy would spend time at THE OFFICE while their parents worked. The massive high ceiling garage provided a spacious stage for countless games of dodge ball, which kept them busy.
Since 1990, THE OFFICE has had thousands of customers, celebrities, professional athletes, and corporate owners visit, and many big deals were completed inside these walls. In recent years, Jim and Jan haven’t needed THE OFFICE as much for business and spend time debating whether to sell or reinvent it.
Their daughter, Jamie, had successfully co-founded, opened and sold a spin studio in Fort Lauderdale and was looking to create another concept. She was scoping out lease options when her parents mentioned to her, “Why don’t you take over THE OFFICE?” Not knowing this was even an option, she immediately responded with an overzealous, “YES!”
Now that this new project had a home, it needed a name. Jamie originally wanted to use FITHAUS until she went to get the name trademarked, only to discover that someone already owned the rights. After countless hours of brainstorming, a good family friend, Annemarie Newton, said jokingly, “Why don’t you just call it THE f****n OFFICE?” Needless to say, a light bulb of inspiration went off and the rest is history. THE OFFICE officially opened Saturday February 23rd 2019 and is truly a unique one-stop shop fitness studio.