CARSON, CA — U.S. Auto Parts Network, an online provider of aftermarket auto parts and accessories, has appointed Shane Evangelist as chief executive officer. Evangelist succeeds Mehran Nia, who served as president and chief executive officer since founding U.S. Auto Parts in 1995. Nia will continue to serve on the board of directors.
Prior to joining U.S. Auto Parts, Evangelist served as senior vice president and general manager of Blockbuster Online, where he was responsible for leading the creation, development and launch of Blockbuster’s online movie rental service. Under Evangelist’s 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. During the first half of 2007, Blockbuster Online reported 3.6 million subscribers, captured over 75 percent of the new online DVD subscription market, was shipping millions of DVDs per week from 38 distribution centers across the country and delivered over 120 percent year-over-year revenue growth.
Evangelist, who joined Blockbuster Inc., in 2001, also served as vice president of strategic planning for the international video rental company with responsibility for strategy development, mergers and acquisitions, marketing and capital deployment.
Evangelist graduated from the University of New Mexico’ s Anderson School of Management with a degree in business administration and earned an MBA from the Cox School of Business at Southern Methodist University. He began his career at IBM where he ran the media and entertainment accounts with clients such as Viacom, Blockbuster, Disney, and others. He was recently named one of the "Top 40 Marketing Executives Under 40" in 2007 by Advertising Age magazine.
In connection with the hiring of Evangelist, the compensation committee of the board of directors adopted the 2007 New Employee Incentive Plan and approved the grant to Evangelist of two stock options under such plan: one option grant to purchase up to 750,000 shares of the company’s common stock vests over a four year period; and a second performance-based option grant to purchase up to 250,000 shares of the company’s common stock vests upon the attainment of certain stock price metrics.
For more information about U.S. Auto Parts Network, go to: http://www.usautoparts.net.