Totowa, NJ, May 4 Pitman Company, the largest distributor in the United States, today announced the acquisition of PrintNation, the world's largest online printing equipment and supplies store. An e-commerce web site dedicated to the graphics arts industry, PrintNation provides Pitman with a greatly expanded ability to sell prepress and pressroom supplies and equipment over the Internet. The PrintNation site will open with Pitman's full product line by the end of May. Pitman's nationwide bricks-and-mortar infrastructure, including 20 fully stocked warehouse locations across the United States, provides PrintNation with the delivery, service and support network to drive its e-commerce capability at high capacity. "PrintNation's early success stands as a major validation of e-commerce on the supply side of the graphics arts business," said Joe Demharter, Pitman Company President and CEO. "PrintNation customers will continue to enjoy excellent customer service, while benefiting from the broad range of services and product lines offered by the Pitman Company. In addition, PrintNation brings Pitman its fully developed e-commerce capability, as well as a high-visibility brand name and nationwide customer base." PrintNation customers will now have access to Pitman's unlimited selection of products from more than 900 quality brand suppliers, including Kodak Polychrome Graphics, Agfa, DuPont, Epson, Hewlett-Packard, Imation, Screen, Scitex, ECRM, PCC Artwork Systems, Apple, Xerox and many others. "The breadth of their product offerings and the quality of their people made Pitman our first choice when we set out to find a partner for PrintNation," said Robert Locke, PrintNation's CEO. Pitman will retain the PrintNation name for the e-commerce site. In addition, Pitman will continue to support its own web site at www.pitman.com for customer information, support services, product sales, technical resources and industry information. "This acquisition establishes Pitman's long-term commitment to online sales, in addition to our traditional sales and service methods," said Demharter. "Now Pitman can reach customers by every means available, and serve customers through whatever method each individual prefers. We have an unbeatable web capability, we have a long-established nationwide sales force, we have one number to call for customer service and support at Pitman Advantage, and we have representatives at 20 sites across the country who are ready to assist customers." Founded in 1906, Pitman Company provides a full range of digital imaging solutions, service and support as well as traditional prepress and pressroom products. The company also offers products tailored specifically for the newspaper market and the packaging industry and has a strong national accounts program. Headquartered in Totowa, NJ, Pitman has branches in 20 locations throughout the U.S.