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….

Don Mikolasy has joined S.P. Richards Company as Vice President of Sales working with the company's national account customers.

"Don brings a wonderful background to his position and I feel we are fortunate to have someone with his experience and abilities joining our team," said Wayne Beacham, President and CEO of S.P. Richards Co.

Before joining S.P. Richards, Mikolasy served as Director, Global Customer Development for the office products division of Avery Dennison. Mikolasy served in a number of sales and marketing roles while with Avery, including Sales Representative, District Manager, Product Manager, Marketing Manager, Northeast Region Manager, National Sales Manager, Director of Marketing, and Director of Commercial Sales.

"I am very excited to have the opportunity of joining S.P. Richards, a company that I have worked closely with over the last eight years, and have come to know and respect," said Mikolasy. "Having spent over 20 years on the manufacturing side, I look forward to the new challenges of the wholesale business where I can utilize my skills and experience to make a significant contribution to the company's success."

Mikolasy is a graduate of the University of Connecticut where he received his Bachelor of Arts, Economics Degree and his Master of Business Administration.

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.