Since opening its first location in 2017, Miller Fitness is getting ready to open its 10th gym.
The fitness center will be at 420 Alfred St. in Biddeford.
Curtis Miller and his wife Kianna leased 10,500 square feet at the Five Points Shopping Center, which has been undergoing renovations to become an entertainment and sports complex. The grand opening is scheduled for Jan. 31 and Feb. 1.
Photo / Courtesy Porta & Co.
Andre Rossignol of CORE and and Tim Millett of Porta & Co. brokered the deal.
“They are the only local gym chain to scale to this size anywhere in the state,” said Rossignol.
He added, “What makes the story even more compelling is how interesting and hands-on Curtis is. While running multiple locations and employing a large team, he is still deeply involved in each build-out and often on-site doing the work himself. His ability to self-perform has contributed greatly in their ability to grow as they have.
Taking the leap
Miller, age 35, played collegiate basketball and started weightlifting in seventh grade.
“I fell in love with weightlifting,” he said.
He went on to get a degree in criminal justice and worked in the corrections and the security industry while Kianna, 31, had a career in banking.
“But I’ve always been an entrepreneur at heart,” he said.
Photo / Courtesy Miller Fitness
When the couple got married, they started lifting together and started an online fitness coaching company.
“That was really doing well,” he said.
Clients were asking when they’d have an in-person gym.
“So we decided to take the leap,” he said. “We opened our first location in Skowhegan in March 2017.”
A couple of years later, they decided to open a second location in Newport.
“After Newport, we thought maybe we can do 10 gyms in 10 years so we set that goal as a couple,” he said, giving his wife credit for her support and hard work over the years.
The pandemic slowed the fitness industry, but also provide opportunities when some fitness centers closed. That’s how they found their third spot, in Fairfield.
Rapid expansion
“We had three gyms in five years,” he said. “Then we went into Augusta in 2022. That was our first big location,” more than double the size of his other gyms.
“We decided if we could do that, we could probably do anything,” he said.
Toward the end of 2022, they opened two more locations, in Farmington and Wells. In 2023, they moved their Newport gym when they bought a different property. In 2024, they opened their biggest locations in Brunswick, Auburn and North Myrtle Beach in South Carolina.
The South Carolina gym came about when the Millers were on vacation there and decided to message a couple of Realtors about location options.
Photo / Courtesy Miller Fitness
“The first Realtor I met with said, I have the perfect location,” Miller said. “It was a Gold’s Gym 20 years ago, then a church, and had big layout.”
Their project for 2025 was to update customer relationship management and point of sale systems.
“Then Biddeford popped up,” he said. “That put us at 10 in 10 years. Actually, 2026 is nine years.”
Biddeford buildout
The couple gave up their previous careers instantly to focus on the chain.
“After I opened Newport, our second location, I fell in love with the business side of things and building gyms,” said Miller. “My purpose switched. Now I’m running a large business, training new leadership, and training our directors and managers.”
Some locations have previously been gyms, which helps with build-out of such as locker rooms. Former gyms can be flipped into a Miller Fitness facility within six weeks, he said.
Sweat equity has gone a long way to financing the build-up. Depending on timing and location, a combination of capital and equipment financing has also been deployed.
The focus is on personal training plus workout programs and online fitness coaching. His larger gyms bring in 200 to 300 people per day.
“We try to fill our entire space with gym equipment,” he said.
Build-out in Biddeford included laying new flooring and installation of new lockers, new shower partitions and painting, and ordering equipment.
“It was in good shape,” he said of the space.
Miller expected to hire two or three employees for the Biddeford gym. Across the chain, he has about 30 employees.
Miller credits his team for their willingness and ability to adjust, adapt and grow with the company. He and a long-time friend, Chris Murray, built nine locations together with help from many of the staff.
Building the business has been a learning experience. Early on for the first location, he got some advice from a friend who worked at a chamber of commerce. Otherwise, “It’s one of those things; you’ve just got to put in that time and find a way to do it,” he said.
