Mississauga, Ontario, – Partners Graphic Support Service & Supply, one of Canada’s top dealers of Agfa electronic and consumable supplies, and Pitman Company, North America’s leading distributor of graphic supplies, announced at Partner’s 10th Anniversary Open House that Pitman Company has purchased PrintNation, the world’s largest online printing equipment and supplies store. Partners Graphic Support will function as the distribution channel for Pitman’s PrintNation in Canada, allowing Partners’ customers the ability to purchase products online from PrintNation.com with the comfort of Canadian support. Partners Graphic Support Service & Supply was founded in 1991 as the first Agfa electronic dealer in Canada, and has enjoyed tremendous success marketing Agfa electronic and consumable supplies across the country. Over the past ten years Partners has expanded its product portfolio to include a complete range of electronic and consumable supplies for the prepress and press room. Partners’ product line is complimented by offering products from major suppliers such as Apple, Hewlett Packard, Xerox, and Epson & Artworks. Pitman Company announced the acquisition of PrintNation, an e-commerce web site dedicated to the graphic arts industry on May 4, 2001. The purchase of PrintNation allows Partners and Pitman the enhanced capability to fulfill prepress, and pressroom supplies and equipment over the Internet. Partners Graphic Support and Pitman Company have enjoyed a long-standing marketing relationship and see this alliance as the first of many future opportunities. "The marketing strategy Partners has developed with Pitman marks the beginning of a long-term commitment to online sales in Canada, in addition to enhancing our traditional sales and service methods," said Steve Watkins, Partner. The PrintNation site is set to launch Pitman’s full product line by the end of June.  Pitman’s nationwide bricks-and-mortar infrastructure, including 20 fully stocked warehouse locations across the United States and Canada provides PrintNation with the necessary additional resources the network needs to drive its e-commerce capability at high capacity including delivery, service and support. "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. "Canadian 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." PrintNation customers will now have access to Pitman’s unlimited selection of products from more than 900 quality products. "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.  "Partners now provides its customer base with a means of acquiring products through our many methods of distribution. This flexibility will enhance our customers’ ability to reach us 24 hours a day, with competitive prices and local support," said David Leetham, Partner.