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 Company introduces Matrix SP, the first, full-line catalog featuring street pricing of all 22,000 catalogued items!

This ground breaking new marketing tool from S.P. Richards Co. will allow independent dealers to answer the most frequently asked buyer's question: "What is my price?" This new marketing tool is the product of months of research, dealer interviews and consumer feedback.

"We believe this new catalog will help dealers take their businesses to the next level of growth and marketing sophistication," said Bill Hurley, Senior Vice President of Marketing. "This is one of the most exciting and innovative tools we have ever made available to the dealer community," commented Hurley.

The Matrix SP catalog is unique in appearance and its "street pricing" will provide dealers with an attractive overall blended gross margin. S.P Richards sales representatives will be presenting program details to dealers during May.

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, its computer supplies subsidiary and Norwestra, a Canadian based Business

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 2001 revenues of $8.2 billion.