For Immediate Release DATE: MARCH 23, 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….

Greg Nissen, Western Division Vice President will be assuming a more prominent role in managing S.P. Richards’ Canadian subsidiary, Norwestra Office Products. Robert and Julie Hunt, formerly of Norwestra, have left the company to pursue other opportunities.

Norwestra will continue to operate under the present management staff of Eugene DePreez, Gordon Clokie and Al Heatherington, who understand the market and the needs of  Norwestra’s customer base in Canada.

“Customer service is a major focal point for our talented team in Canada,” said Nissen. “We have an extremely strong infrastructure in place in our Western and Eastern Canadian operations. Going forward, our primary goal will be to maximize this structure through an increased focus on sales, marketing, and dealer programs. This will allow us to offer a complete range of products and services to the Canadian marketplace.”

Norwestra is a full-line wholesaler of office products and furniture serving the Canadian market with locations in Vancouver, Toronto, Winnepeg and Calgary.

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 2000 revenues of $8.4 billion