Lab Safety Supply Acquires McFeely's Square Drive Screws


CHICAGO, June 1 / -- Grainger, a leading North American industrial distributor, today announced its Lab Safety Supply (LSS) subsidiary has acquired substantially all of the assets of McFeely's Square Drive Screws of Lynchburg, Virginia. McFeely's is a business-to-business direct marketer of specialty fasteners, hardware and tools for the professional woodworking industry. Grainger expects the acquisition to be accretive within a year. Terms of the agreement were not disclosed

"Acquisitions are an efficient way for LSS to expand its served market, increase revenue and diversify the customer base," said Grainger's Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Richard L. Keyser. "This acquisition will enable LSS to further penetrate the woodworking and construction markets."

McFeely's will be marketed as an independent brand by LSS, the leading direct marketer of targeted, specialty business products in the safety, industrial, environmental and homeland security markets. Through a similar direct marketing model, McFeely's serves over 70,000 active customers including serious woodworkers, handymen, home improvement professionals, construction companies and cabinet makers. The company had annual sales in 2006 of more than $9 million.

"McFeely's will complement our other brands," said Larry J. Loizzo, President of LSS. "There is very little overlap in our customer files and we believe McFeely's innovative merchandising approach, using both printed catalogs and the Web, will provide more solutions for our customers, saving them additional time."

This transaction is similar to LSS' successful acquisitions of the Ben Meadows, Gempler's, AW Direct, Rand, Professional Equipment and Construction Book Express businesses, which have provided new growth and diversification to the LSS customer base.

W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW), with 2006 sales of $5.9 billion, is a leading broad-line supplier of facilities maintenance products serving businesses and institutions in Canada, China, Mexico and the United States. Through a highly integrated network including nearly 600 branches, 18 distribution centers and multiple Web sites, Grainger's employees help customers get the job done, saving them time and money by having the right products to keep their facilities running.

Source: W.W. Grainger, Inc.

CONTACT:William Chapman, Director of Investor Relations,
+1-847-535-0881, william.chapman@grainger.com, or Ernest Duplessis,
+Director
of External Communications, +1-847-535-4356, ernest.duplessis@grainger.com, both of W.W. Grainger, Inc.

Web site: http://www.grainger.com/

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