Ritchie Engineering Establishes European Distribution Center; Locally-Based Inventory Will Speed Delivery and Improve Service

BLOOMINGTON, Minn.--July 23, 2004--Ritchie Engineering Company, Inc., the leader in service tools for the HVAC&R professional, today announced that it has opened a European distribution center. The new distribution center will give wholesalers and service technicians quicker access to the highest moving and most popular YELLOW JACKET(TM) brand of service tools in that region.

Located in Perth, Scotland, the site will service both United Kingdom and European customers. It will handle stocking, order processing, shipping, and the return and repair of selected items.

"As part of our continual effort to provide the highest quality products in the minimal amount of time, we are pleased to announce the opening of a new European distribution center," said Steve Ritchie, President of Ritchie Engineering Company, Inc. "This new distribution center provides us with an effective inventory and distribution system throughout Europe and the United Kingdom, enabling us to enhance our service by providing fast and timely deliveries to customers in more than 30 countries."

The facility is expected to be fully operational by July 31, 2004. It is located at Unit 10, Riverview Business Park, Friarton Road, Perth, PH2 8DF, United Kingdom. Telephone: 00-44-(0) 1738-459-020 and Fax: 00-44-(0) 1738-443-712.

About Ritchie Engineering

Founded in 1946 as a manufacturers' representative organization, Ritchie Engineering Company, Inc. soon became a hose manufacturer. With an emphasis on quality and service, Ritchie Engineering trademarked the hose as the YELLOW JACKET(R) Charging Hose in 1950. Since then, the company has been engineering, manufacturing, and continuously improving the YELLOW JACKET hose and adding new products to its portfolio. Today, the YELLOW JACKET name is synonymous with the highest quality line of HVAC&R tools in the industry. YELLOW JACKET products are sold worldwide through a network of authorized HVAC&R and automotive wholesalers. For more information, please call (952)943-1333 or visit our Web site at www.yellowjacket.com.