Former Blockbuster exec joins U.S. Auto Parts

CARSON, Calif. U.S. Auto Parts Network, Inc., announced Wednesday that they have appointed a former Blockbuster Online executive to become their new president and ceo.

Shane Evangelist, Blockbuster Online’s senior vp and gm succeeds Mehran Nia, who served as president and chief executive officer since founding U.S. Auto Parts in 1995. Evangelist will assume his positions at the company immediately.

Prior to joining U.S. Auto Parts, Evangelist was responsible for leading the creation, development and launch of Blockbuster's online movie rental service. Under his leadership, Blockbuster grew monthly unique visitors faster than any other e-commerce company in 2004, was listed as the fastest growing Top 500 e-commerce business in 2005 according to Internet Retailer and followed that up as the fastest growing Top 100 e-commerce business in 2006.

Evangelist, who joined Blockbuster Inc., in 2001, also served as vp of strategic planning for the international video rental company with responsibility for strategy development, mergers and acquisitions, marketing and capital deployment.

"We are excited to have Shane join U.S. Auto Parts," said Robert J. Majteles, chairman of the board. "Shane has built a terrific e-commerce track record in an extremely competitive environment and has a wide ranging background in finance, strategic planning, marketing and management. We believe that Shane is ideally suited to lead U.S. Auto Parts in our next phase of growth as we continue our rapid expansion and further establish U.S. Auto Parts as the leader in the online auto parts market."