s a young boy
growing up in
Chicago’s Italian
neighborhood, Joe Perillo had only dreamed of owning a nice car one day. His father passed away when he was only 12 years old, and he had to step up to help support his mother and sister. He couldn’t afford college and decided the best route for him would be to serve in the army. After serving his country for three years in Korea and Tacoma, Washington, he landed a job selling cars. He also met his bride of 50 years, Pat, and moved back home to Chicago to pursue his passion of selling Cadillac automobiles. He eventually became the number one Cadillac Salesman in the nation.
After a short stint at the Chicago Board of Trade, he concluded that it was cars and, most importantly, making people happy that really drove him. He purchased a Pontiac dealership in 1975 in a fairly obscure area on Diversey Ave. in Chicago, now located in Lincoln Park. He turned a failed business into a very successful one in only a three-year period during tough economic times. This allowed him to apply for the first BMW franchise in the city of Chicago.
He eventually moved his BMW store to a bigger location in the Gold Coast area of Chicago and acquired several luxury lines including Bentley, Lamborghini, Bugatti, Rolls Royce, and Maserati. Perillo is widely recognized throughout the region and ranks very high amongst his peers in the luxury automobile industry.
Mr. Perillo attributes his success
to his ability to hire the best
employees who are totally committed to the customer. He lives by the Golden Rule, treat others, as you would like to be
treated. If you ask him if he ever worked a day in his life, he will
emphatically tell you “absolutely not.” He loves what he does and to him, he is living a dream!
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