Welcome to Jim Ellis Chevrolet
Our Beginning
Struggling to make something out of limited resources is not foreign to Mr. Ellis. When he was 10 years old, he and his family moved to the Atlanta Prison Farm property. His father was the foreman of the prison farm and his grandfather was the superintendent. Growing up, Mr. Ellis worked on a farm, had a milk and paper route, did construction, ran a concessions business at Grant Park, and ran a laundry route. By the time he completed West Georgia College and Georgia State University in 1957 with a BBA in general management, he had worked as a prison guard and foreman, sold insurance, IBM Machines and real estate, and held various other jobs to work his way through college. After returning from serving two years in the U.S. Army, Mr. Ellis held a variety of jobs until he found his place in the automobile business with General Motors in 1960.
In 1970, Jim Ellis and his wife Billie took the biggest financial plunge of their lives to establish their own automobile dealership. They sold all of their assets, used all of their savings, cashed in Billie's retirement fund from over 15 years at Georgia Tech, and borrowed the balance to begin Jim Ellis Volkswagen in 1971. In total, the plunge amounted to $35,000 in assets, and $165,000 in loans.
The Ellis Family
The responsibilities of these family members are clearly spread out throughout the company, and many of the family members play an active role in the businesses. We now have three generations working every day in our family business. The fourth generation is coming up with seven members. They are young, but we are planning for them to have an opportunity to work with us too, when they complete their chosen education.
We are celebrating our 50th year in business in 2021, and plan to be family-owned and operated for the next foreseeable generations of the Ellis family.
Close to Home in One Convenient Location
Make the trip from your home in Decatur GA, Norcross, Stone Mountain, Marietta or Lawrenceville GA to our Atlanta dealership and experience our unique brand of customer service for yourself. We're easy to get to, easy to work with, and we want to help you have a car-shopping, buying, and ownership experience unlike any you've ever had elsewhere. We invite you to visit us in person and let us impress you with our wide range of expertise on Chevrolet vehicles, and our topnotch standards of customer service. We're happy to answer any questions you have and to help guide you through the entire experience.
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