Movie Gallery, Inc. Announces Promotion of Wes Sand

WILSONVILLE, Ore., April 7 /PRNewswire/ -- Movie Gallery, Inc. ("Movie Gallery") today announces the promotion of Wes Sand to the position of Executive Vice President, Chief Merchandising Officer, effective April 6, 2009. Mr. Sand assumes all responsibility over merchandising for the company, inclusive of movies, games and concessions. Mr. Sand takes on some of the duties formerly held by Sherif Mityas who was promoted to President and Chief Executive Officer this past March.

Mr. Sand joined Hollywood Entertainment in August 2002 as Vice President of Merchandising for Game Crazy. Following the company's merger with Movie Gallery in 2005 he was appointed Vice President - Games, with responsibility for all video game retail and rental product lines. In this role Mr. Sand led the Game Crazy business through three years of record sales and directed the launch of video game retail and trading, and Game Zones, in both Movie Gallery and Hollywood Video stores. In April of 2007, Mr. Sand was promoted to Senior Vice President - Games, his most recent position, where he assumed overall responsibility for the Games business.

"Wes brings a strong background in merchandising and store experience from his successful leadership of our Games business," states Sherif Mityas, President and CEO for Movie Gallery, Inc. "Under Wes' leadership, comp store sales grew despite the difficult 2008 business environment, and during that time, the number of stores we had that sell and trade new and used games went from 550 stores to 1,826 total stores. We look forward to leveraging that expertise and experience across our entire chain."

Prior to joining the company Mr. Sand founded and led sales and marketing for a venture-backed business-to-business ecommerce company, Yardconnect, Inc. Previously he held positions at Koch Industries and the management consulting firm McKinsey & Company.

Mr. Sand is a Rhodes Scholar and holds degrees from Oxford University and Cornell University. Outside of Movie Gallery he serves on the Boards of the Ford Family Foundation and Marylhurst Early Childhood Center.

Movie Gallery is the second largest North American video and game rental company with approximately 3,300 stores located in all 50 U.S. states and Canada, operating under the brands Movie Gallery, Hollywood Video and Game Crazy. Since Movie Gallery's initial public offering in August 1994, the Company has grown from 97 stores to its present size through acquisitions and new store openings. For more information about the Company, please visit our website: www.moviegallery.com.

Media Inquires Contact: Movie Gallery, Inc., 503-570-5233

SOURCE Movie Gallery, Inc.