Top ticket sellers

Jason Sandford

Jason Sandford is a reporter, writer, blogger and photographer interested in all things Asheville.

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The North Carolina Education Lottery wants to get the word out about retailers that are selling them lots of tickets. So here’s what the lottery says about the top ticket outlets in our area:

As of July 1, the “Catamount Travel Center” in Whitter ranked first in sales in the “Ashvegas area,” whatever that is. The store is ranked 20th statewide. That’s pretty good. They must be selling to the college crowd out there. The lottery folks say the store is plastered with posters, including posters on the ceiling, and there’s a digital sign outside that advertises how much people have won at the store.

Second in sales is the Hot Spot at 103 Leicester Highway. The storeowner there has two clerks working to make sure customers don’t have to wait too long to buy. It’s also a heavily trafficked location. The store ranks 22nd statewide in sales.

All very interesting. The other little tidbit we picked up last week when we bought our Powerball tickets was that the retailers don’t get a cut of a big Powerball winning like retailers in other states. The store dudes we talked to were pretty grumpy about that. Wonder why we’re different from everyone else?

Don’t forget to buy your Powerball tickets for Wednesday’s drawing. It’s up to $100 million.