For Immediate Release DATE: January 26, 2001


S.P. Richards Company, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Genuine Parts Company (GPC:NYSE) and leading wholesale distributor of business and office supplies, announced today….

Three new and exciting enhancements to iteminfo.com.

Iteminfo.com, S.P. Richards Company's innovative on-line office products information repository, has been enhanced with three new components. A unique Order List feature has been added to allow the user to quickly and easily create an individual ordering list. The Order List is accessible from the main navigational bar and also from any individual product page on the site.

Three options for order fulfillment are available to the user by clicking a button after creating an order list: 1. Print a hard copy of the list to hand to a sales representative or take directly to a dealer; 2. Create a list on a ready-made Fax Form complete with cover sheet. Print out the fax form and fax the order to a local dealer; and 3. Email your order. Just fill in the required email information and click "Send Email." This allows a dealer to efficiently receive orders via fax or email.

The second feature added to iteminfo.com is Tell a Friend. When a user comes across an item on a product page that they would like to share with a friend, they simply click on "Email this product page to a friend" and an email screen displays. Completing the form and clicking "submit," sends the specific page address to the addressee. Alternately, clicking the "Tell a Friend" button from the main navigational bar, forwards the Web site address. This feature was created to assist in passing along information contained on the iteminfo.com Web site quickly and effectively.

The final enhancement to the site is the Rebate Marker. Throughout iteminfo.com, on specific product pages, flashing icons point out "Dealer Special on This Item." This denotes an item with a rebate offer and simply clicking on the flashing icon will take the user directly to the rebate specials.

"The Internet offers great opportunities for customers and companies to come together to meet mutual goals," said Laura Kilpatrick, E-commerce Marketing Coordinator, S.P. Richards Company. "There are many new and exciting enhancements in the works for iteminfo.com. These enhancements are designed to reinforce S.P. Richards' continued support of our dealers' e-commerce efforts and the relationships they hold with their customers."

S.P. Richards Company, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Genuine Parts Company (GPC: NYSE), distributes a wide spectrum of business products to office products resellers throughout the U.S. and Canada. These products include consumable office supplies, office furniture, computer supplies, consumer electronics, and facilities supplies from all of the major industry manufacturers. S.P. Richards Company markets several private label lines under the brand names of Sparco, Nature Saver, Compucessory, and Elite Image. The company operates 43 Distribution centers in the United States and Canada, including Horizon USA, it's computer supplies subsidiary and Norwestra, a Canadian based Business Products Wholesaler.

Genuine Parts Company is a diversified distribution and services company that operates four wholly owned subsidiaries. The Company is a leading distributor of automotive replacement parts in the U.S., Canada and Mexico; industrial replacement parts in the U.S., Canada and Mexico through its Motion Industries subsidiary; office products nationwide in the U.S. and Canada through its S.P. Richards Company subsidiary; and electrical and electronic components throughout the U.S. and Mexico through its EIS, Inc. subsidiary. Genuine Parts Company had 1999 revenues of $7.9 billion and net income of $377.6 million.