Feb 11, 2015 3 min read

The Powerball’s mega jackpot hasn’t resulted in mega lines at local convenience stores, but area retailers said they noticed a big uptick in business this week with more customers stopping by for a lucky lotto ticket to go with their morning coffee.

Scott Snyder, a cashier at TJ’s Deli, estimated they sold four times the amount of Powerball tickets Wednesday than a typical weekday as a steady stream of customers walked into the store.

The lure of a $500 million prize for Wednesday night’s drawing – one of the largest jackpots in American history – was too much for gamblers to pass up as they walked into the store along Route 19 in North Strabane.

“We’re rarely in the four digits (on sales) and we usually do a pretty good business,” Snyder said of the estimated $1,600 in Powerball sales he recorded by mid-day Wednesday. “And then people will buy other things while they’re in here.”

Snyder said they’ve avoided long lines during the Powerball craze, mainly because it usually takes longer to sell daily numbers because customers want to play specific digits. With so many Powerball numbers to choose from, most customers come in, plop down $2 (or more), ask for the auto pick-em and leave in just a few seconds.

“We have people coming in who have never played before and don’t know how,” Snyder said. “We can just leave (the machine) on over there and get them what they want. You can play quickly and move on.”

There was no wait for Jim Poehlmann of Canonsburg as he walked into the convenience store and left with three tickets in his hand. Poehlmann buys a ticket “every once in a while” especially if the Powerball jackpot exceeds $100 million.

Even if the mega jackpot is enticing, Poehlmann admitted he’s not sure he would want the notoriety that goes along with the nearly record-breaking prize.

“I’d almost rather win $20 million,” Poehlmann said. “No one would know who you are. I almost wouldn’t want to be the guy standing at the (news conference) podium holding that big check.”

Customers were coming in “spurts” at Gabby Market in North Franklin, the grocery store’s owner Shane Dever said Wednesday night before the drawing deadline. A line stretched from one of two cash registers around the aisles on a couple occasions earlier in the day, he said.

“It’s been insane,” Dever said.

Even convenience stores that don’t sell lottery tickets noticed an uptick of walk-in customers looking to purchase a Powerball ticket. Liz Wilkinson, a cashier at Main Street Market across from Washington County Courthouse, said they had four people come in Wednesday looking for tickets, only to leave disappointed. She said they typically send customers to Popcorn Willy’s restaurant a block away on North Main Street.

The restaurant’s manager, Mark Buxton, noticed a “steady stream” of people coming in for both lunch and tickets the past few days.

“It’s busier than usual,” Buxton said during a lull in business following lunch hour.