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Monro Muffler Brake and Wegmans Food Markets Announce Partnership

21 January 1999

Monro Muffler Brake and Wegmans Food Markets Announce Promotional Partnership

    ROCHESTER, N.Y.--Jan. 21, 1999--Monro Muffler Brake, Inc. announced today a promotional partnership with Wegmans Food Markets, Inc. of Rochester, N.Y. As of January 1, 1999, Wegmans Shoppers Club card holders will receive discounts on services at over 500 Monro Muffler Brake and Service and Speedy Auto Service locations. This two-year promotional partnership will offer Wegmans Shoppers Club card holders discounts at Monro locations on all services. Wegmans currently operates 57 stores with annual sales of $2.3 billion.
    Robert Gross, President and Chief Executive Officer, commented, "We are excited about this strategic partnership with Wegmans as it will reach an attractive consumer demographic and contribute incrementally to store traffic and sales. This type of partnership will be consistent with other co-branding marketing initiatives we are currently working on. The program will be promoted via print media and displays in Wegmans stores. These efforts, along with our emphasis on providing customers with recognized branded products such as Bridgestone/Firestone tires and NASCAR Exide batteries at the store level, serve to improve Monro's visibility and reputation among both new and existing customers."
    Monro Muffler Brake operates a chain of stores providing automotive undercar repair services in the United States. The Company currently operates 532 stores and has 14 dealer locations in New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Connecticut, Massachusetts, West Virginia, Virginia, Maryland, Vermont, New Hampshire, New Jersey, North Carolina, South Carolina, Indiana, Rhode Island, Delaware and Michigan. Monro's stores provide a full range of services for exhaust systems, brake systems, steering and suspension systems and many vehicle maintenance services.

Certain statements made above may be forward-looking and are made pursuant to the Safe Harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements involve uncertainties which may cause the Company's actual results in future periods to differ materially from those expressed. These uncertainties include, but are not necessarily limited to, uncertainties affecting retail generally (such as consumer confidence and demand for auto repair); risks relating to leverage and debt service (including sensitivity to fluctuations in interest rates); dependence on, and competition within, the primary markets in which the Company's stores are located; the need for, and costs associated with, store renovations and other capital expenditures; and the risks described from time to time in the Company's SEC reports which include the report on Form 10K for the fiscal year ended March 31, 1998.