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….

Sam Carter, General Manager of S.P. Richards' Jacksonville Distribution Center, accepted on behalf of the entire Jacksonville team, the "Distribution Center of the Year" award, at the company's recent operational excellence awards ceremony.

"Winning this award is certainly a complete group effort," said Carter. "I personally couldn't be more proud of our group in North East Florida. Each and every day they do a wonderful job to position our operation to win an award of this magnitude. We have a team extremely focused on providing quality service to our customers. My thanks and appreciation goes out to every member of our team for their achievement and dedication."

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.