Lottery fever can finally calm down! The winning ticket for the largest jackpot of $1.5 billion in the multistate Powerball has finally been sold—three times, actually. Almost immediately after the numbers were announced last night, the California Lottery tweeted that “a jackpot-winning ticket was sold in Chino Hills.” Other state lottery officials later said winning tickets were also sold in Munford, Tennessee and in Melbourne Beach, Florida.
Balbir Atwal, owner of the 7-Eleven franchise in Chino Hills that sold one winning ticket, said it was “very exciting,” according to CNN Money. The winning numbers were 08, 27, 34, 04 and 19, and the Powerball was 10.
For many convenience stores that sell lottery tickets, January 13 could likely go down as their busiest day—at least for 2016. With the Powerball jackpot surging to $1.5 billion, convenience stores, which sell half of all lottery tickets in the United States, saw enormous in-store traffic this week, and not just for Powerball tickets. According to a NACS study, 95% of lottery customers buy at least one additional item inside the store.
There is an excitement in convenience stores when jackpots hit record numbers. It gives retailers a chance to shine and enjoy the excitement in their communities, and it’s great to hear the conversations about what people would do to possibly use the winnings.
