For Immediate Release DATE: APRIL 06, 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….

S.P. Richards and DDMS have formed a partnership enabling NT users the capability to transmit orders to S.P. Richards via the Internet. Internet transmissions are quicker and less expensive for the reseller.

“DDMS and S.P. Richards have been working together for almost 20 years, and the relationship is just growing stronger,” said Charles Russell, President of DDMS. “While DDMS has certainly benefited, I think the real winners in the partnership have been S.P. Richards’ dealers, who are enjoying lower costs through capabilities like TCP/IP-based Internet purchasing, electronic invoicing, and other labor-saving programs.”

Boyd Rice, S.P. Richards’ Vice President and Chief Information Officer commented, “S.P. Richards is excited about partnering with DDMS to provide our mutual customers, the Independent Office Supply Dealers, an opportunity to take advantage of the Internet to streamline the ordering 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 2000 revenues of $8.4 billion