Gilleland Chevrolet-Cadillac is nestled in the heart of Central Minnesota, where we are a very active part of our community. We are grateful to have the opportunity to share our success with the communities we serve and are passionate about giving back.
Our team is known for their friendliness and commitment to quality customer experiences. We are so fortunate to have forged customer loyalty that often spans multiple generations.
Gilleland Chevrolet has been a part of the St. Cloud area since 1986. Giving back to the community is an integral part of who we are and what we do.
We give willingly to and are actively involved in the support of our community because they provide us our success. We focus our giving on programs that help our local community grow and prosper.
The Gilleland story begins with an entrepreneur and mentor named Leonard Rydell. Rydell got into the car business after WWII, opening a dealership in Montgomery, Minnesota. In 1954, at Chevrolet’s request, he moved to North Dakota to operate the Chevrolet dealership in Grand Forks.
Duane Gilleland was hired by Rydell as an automotive technician out of Thief River Falls Community College to work at the Grand Forks dealership. Ambitious and capable, Duane worked his way up to service manager and then to general manager. After he told Rydell that he hoped one day to own his own dealership, the employer did something unusual. He decided to help Duane achieve his dream.
Baston Chevrolet was a dealership that opened its doors in St. Cloud in 1942. It was a successful dealership, but by 1986 Fred Baston was ready to call it quits and had put the business on the market. Rydell heard that the business was available and he offered to help Duane secure funding to purchase it. The deal was completed, and on August 1, 1986, Baston sold his business to Duane and Karen Gilleland.
Duane and Karen, along with their young children Christy and Grant, moved from Grand Forks, ND to St Cloud to begin living the dream of owning a Chevrolet Dealership – Gilleland Chevrolet. Duane utilized all of the experience he had gained and lessons learned from Leonard Rydell in order to operate a successful dealership.
Currently Christy and Grant have grabbed ahold of the family business torch and continue to live by the very principles and traditions that their father Duane has instilled within them. Tradition is not to preserve the ashes but to pass on the flame and both Christy and Grant feel honored to have a great crew of passionate team members to help share their love for Chevrolet and the automotive industry!