For Immediate Release DATE: FEBRUARY 16, 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….

Horizon USA, S.P. Richards' computer supplies subsidiary headquartered in Reno, Nev., has opened a sales and distribution operation in Toronto, Canada. Expansion to a second operation - distribution only - will open in Vancouver within the next four months.

The Horizon team is very excited about this opportunity to expand our services into the Canadian marketplace," said Roger Woodward, President of Horizon. "We have assembled a great team of professionals that are committed to providing our reseller customers with the service, attention and trust they deserve."

Horizon Canada will offer a broad range of printer supplies, business machines, data media storage and accessories from leading industry manufacturers. A partial list of manufacturers includes: Hewlett-Packard, Epson, Brother, Canon, Xerox, Okidata, Maxell, Imation, Verbatim, Sony, Iomega, and Tektronix. In addition to aggressive pricing and same day shipping, Canadian dealers can also expect Horizon to provide tools that will support their sales efforts.

"Our primary goal is to create programs and services that help our customers grow their business," said Ron Doyle, National Sales Manager of Horizon Canada. "Helping our customers succeed and showing a genuine concern for their business will be the first priority of the entire Canada Team."

Supporting this commitment to help the dealer will be several marketing and sales support tools. These include product flyers and postcards introducing new products. Additionally, Horizon has several training and management tools that will help dealers capture new product opportunities and effectively manage the selling process.

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 44 Distribution centers in the United States and Canada, including Horizon USA, its 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.