Office Environments & Services, a Jacksonville office furniture company founded in 1955, is rebranding and will be known as Office Images, which bought the company in 2022.
OE&S is at 1524 San Marco Blvd. It was founded by Edward J. Boulos and later operated by his son, Zimmerman (Zim) Boulos.
Office Images Inc. is headquartered in Roswell, Georgia, an Atlanta suburb.
Market President Madelen Salter said the time has come to rebrand the company.
“We waited out of an abundance of respect for the former owner, Zim Boulos. His father had started the business in 1955 so we’re almost 70 years old,” Salter said.
“There was a desire to allow the associates to adapt to a new culture and expand the culture.”
Office Images sells nationally. It has offices in Atlanta, Jacksonville and Nashville, Tennessee. The Jacksonville division had sales of $17.5 million in 2023. The company as a whole had $64 million in sales.
Office Images is one of the largest dealers of Haworth office furniture in the country. The San Marco showroom is about 9,000 square feet.
The office workspace has transformed since the coronavirus pandemic sent workers home. Remote work has become a lifestyle. Salter has found more companies are mandating at least three days per work week in the office.
Firms are looking to Office Images and similar companies to make the return to the office more appealing and the commute worthwhile.
“I think we’re busier now than we ever have been, mostly because decision-makers and executives are coming to us and saying, ‘we truly need workplace consultants,’ ” Salter said.
“Workspaces are being redesigned. The mission is to create a workspace around the employees’ needs.”
“I think what we’re looking at now is that we have to understand our people and understand that there are different personas. Some people need to work in different ways. Some people need a high sense of focus. Some people need the collaboration aspect,” she said.
Today’s office needs to reflect the remote work environment, she said.
“It’s not just sitting at a normal desk and a chair. They want to move around the workplace just as they might do or have done at home,” Salter said.
“They pick different spaces within their home environment based on the time of the day or the type of lighting that they need. We’re seeing that needs to happen and to be taken into consideration in the workplace too.”
While at the office, today’s younger worker may spend only a couple of hours at the desk. The remaining time is spent in work pods or video rooms on Zoom calls and the like or even outside at workspace on the campus.
“The cafe is set up so that they can focus around the natural light. They may like that ambient noise,” she said.
The rebranding will occur slowly over the next six to nine months, Salter said.
There will be new signage and logos and a new color scheme. An open house may come later in the process.