August 21, 2009

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...

Chris Whiting named Vice President, Cleaning & Breakroom Supply category

Chris Whiting has been promoted to the position of Vice President, Cleaning & Breakroom Supply category. Whiting joined the company in 2004 in the role of Director of Sales and Marketing for the Cleaning & Breakroom Supply category. The product segment has experienced outstanding growth under Whiting’s direction with a major highlight being the successful launch and rapid expansion of the popular Genuine Joe brand.

Whiting will continue to report to Senior VP of Merchandising, Steve Lynn, who commented on the promotion, “Chris brings an incredible amount of enthusiasm, energy, and expertise to our cleaning, breakroom, facility supply, and healthcare product initiatives. These categories represent significant sales opportunities for our customers and are of major strategic significance to our company. We’re looking forward to continued growth as Chris takes on this expanded role.”

Whiting added, “Increasingly, office product resellers are being seen as a viable source for cleaning and breakroom products. We’ve experienced substantial growth over the past several years and we’re excited to help our customers continue to take advantage of what is an extremely profitable opportunity.”

Prior to joining S.P. Richards Company, Whiting held the position of Division Manager with Georgia-Pacific’s Dixie Foodservice Division. He holds a degree in marketing from Valdosta State University.

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, cleaning and breakroom supplies from all of the major industry manufacturers. S.P. Richards Company markets several private label lines under the brand names of Lorell, Integra, Sparco, Genuine Joe, Nature Saver, Compucessory, and Elite Image. The company operates 44 Distribution Centers in the United States and Canada.

Genuine Parts Company is a distributor of automotive replacement parts in the U.S., Canada and Mexico. The Company also distributes industrial replacement parts in the U.S. and Canada through its Motion Industries subsidiary. S. P. Richards Company, the Office Products Group, distributes business products nationwide in the U.S. and in Canada. The Electrical/Electronic Group, EIS, Inc., distributes electrical and electronic components throughout the U.S., Canada and Mexico. Genuine Parts Company had 2008 revenues of $11.0 billion.