Microsoft will present more than $1 million in technology grants to local non-profit organizations on Saturday at the opening for the Microsoft Store at Los Cerritos Center.
The grand opening celebration in Cerritos will also include a ribbon cutting ceremony and a free concert with Kelly Clarkson.
The first store opened five years ago in Scottsdale, Ariz.; the Microsoft Store in Cerritos will be the 111th for the corporation, 13th in the state and 8th in Southern California.
“We’re not here to just do transactions; we want to become fabric of the community and really engage with the community,” said Jonathan Adashek, general manager of communication strategy for Microsoft. “Across the board, whether it’s the deals, concert or engaging with the community, we want to come here and make a difference.”
The local organizations that will receive money are the YMCA of Greater Long Beach, Selaco, Youth Science Center and the Mexican American Opportunity Foundation.
MAOF is a non-profit, community-based organization that was established in 1963 in order to serve disadvantaged individuals and families in the Los Angeles area, according to the MAOF website.
As one of the recipients, MAOF will use the grant for licensing and software that will be used to “modernize” the foundation’s current facilities, said Earl Williams, IT operations supervisor of MAOF.
“It has grown to be one of the largest Hispanic non-profits in the country,” President & CEO of Mexican American Opportunity Foundation Martin Castro said. “We service areas including early education, childcare welfare for subsidiary recipients, job training programs for at risk youth, to help them learn skills to become employable.”
Castro said MAOF’s main goal is to help the Latino community by improving their socioeconomic conditions.
“That’s our vision as a company, and the stores are going to help do that,” Adashek said. “[Stores] put a personal face on the company, to build relationships with people one at a time, creating that individual engagement.”
Most Microsoft stores typically start with the same assortments, Adashek said; however, stores will change assortments on a regular basis by listening to what the community is looking for.
Adahek said of all the other openings for Microsoft at this time, only one other celebration will have a concert.
“Not every market gets Kelly Clarkson, or even someone like Kelly,” Adahek said. “So we look at our market and understand what our demand is in that market, and how to best resonate there.”
The first 1,000 people in line will get a pair of tickets, and some attendees will be given an opportunity to meet her.
There will be deals for attendees at the opening $99 dollars for an 8-inch Toshiba Encore 32 gigabyte tablet. Xbox 360, 4 gigabytes will also be $99 dollars.
Adashek said the new store will eventually conduct free workshops in which people can come into the store and learn how to use the latest products, as education is an important focus for the company.
“We have a lot of people who bring in iPads and say ‘can you put office on my ipad’ or ‘can you put windows on my mac’ or ‘can you help me with this that I bought at xyz partner,’” Adashek said. “We’re happy to help … we want technology to be an enabler.”
Ribbon cutting ceremony will begin at 10:30 a.m. The concert will be held in parking lot at Macy’s, doors open at 5 p.m. and concert will begin at 7 p.m. for those with tickets.