A convenience store in southwest Little Rock has become the Arkansas Scholarship Lottery's top ticket seller, outselling a convenience store near the Interstate 30 overpass in Bryant that had held the leading spot.
The lottery has more than 1,900 retailers.
The Quik Run Co. convenience store, at the intersection of Baseline and Chicot roads, sold $2.3 million in lottery tickets in fiscal 2020, which ended June 30, according to the lottery's records.
The Quik Run store is housed in a brick building with a gas station and is nestled between a Food Giant store and an O'Reilly Auto Parts store. A Kum & Go convenience store sits across the intersection.
Kimmey Oh of Sherwood said she has owned the store for about two years.
"We really don't keep track of that," Aaron Oh of Sherwood, who is assistant manager of Quik Run, said when asked about being the lottery's top ticket seller.
"Sometimes our [lottery] rep will let us know," he said Thursday in an interview.
Y&E Superstop in Bryant previously was the top lottery ticket seller. Y&E Superstop is located near the Reynolds Road exit on Interstate 30, west of Ashley's Furniture and southwest of the Cracker Barrel restaurant and a Wal-Mart store.
Y&E Superstop was the top seller of lottery tickets in fiscal years 2015-19.
It had unseated G & B Liquor of Stuttgart, which had previously sold the most tickets each year since the lottery's start on Sept. 28, 2009. G&B Liquor's ownership changed in fiscal 2015.
In fiscal 2020, Y&E Superstop sold $1.79 million in tickets, the second-largest amount among retailers, according to lottery records.
That was a decline from $2.44 million it sold in fiscal 2019 and $2.43 million in fiscal 2018, according to the records.
"Y&E sold at some point this last year so that is why they fell," said lottery Director Bishop Woosley.
A spokesman for Coulson Oil declined to comment Friday about the drop in Y&E Superstop's ticket sales in fiscal 2020 compared with the previous years.
The Quik Run Co. store was the second-ranking seller in fiscal 2019 at $1.85 million and at $1.9 million in fiscal 2018, when it was known as Freeway Mart, the lottery's records show.
The bulk of the store's sales are in scratch-off tickets, also known as instant games. In fiscal 2020, the Quik Run Co. had $2.03 million in scratch-off ticket sales; $94,082.50 in the Cash 3 draw game ticket sales; $34,807 in Powerball sales; and $30,416 in Mega Millions sales, according to the lottery's records. Powerball and Mega Millions are played in other states as well and have larger jackpots.
In fiscal 2019, the store's total ticket sales included $1.63 million in scratch-off tickets; $61,524 in Cash 3 tickets; $46,622 in Powerball tickets; and $39,165 in Mega Millions sales, according to lottery records.
Asked why the store's lottery sales increased by roughly $450,000 in fiscal 2020 over sales in fiscal 2019, Aaron Oh said, "It could be just [the coronavirus pandemic] and all the casinos were closed and a lot of other entertainment things like movie theaters were closed.
"I guess some people had nothing to do except buy [lottery] tickets," he said.
Casinos were closed in Arkansas from mid-March until they reopened May 18 with restrictions. Many people also have worked from home or been laid off because the pandemic.
"They will come out and buy a lot of things at once and then go back home for the day, so they will just stock up and go back home and scratch it off," Oh said.
During the past three fiscal years, the store selling the third-largest amount of lottery tickets has been the Exxon One Stop store at 2901 W. 28th Street in Pine Bluff. It sold $1.73 million in tickets in fiscal 2020, $1.83 million in fiscal 2019 and $1.69 million in fiscal 2018, the lottery's records show.
In fiscal 2020, the Arkansas Scholarship Lottery's revenue totaled $532 million, outdistancing its previous record of $516.2 million in fiscal 2019 with the help of surging scratch-off ticket sales. In fiscal 2018, total revenue reached $500.4 million.
In fiscal 2020, the lottery raised $89.4 million for college scholarships, a drop from its record of $98.6 million in fiscal 2019. In fiscal 2018, it raised $91.9 million for college scholarships.
The lottery helps finance Arkansas Academic Challenge, Workforce Challenge and Concurrent Challenge Scholarships.
Earlier this month, Woosley said the lottery raised less money for college scholarships in fiscal 2020 than in 2019 based "on the terrible draw game sales we had."
Draw game ticket sales are more profitable for the lottery than the scratch-off ticket sales.
Sales for Powerball and Mega Millions "were the worst we've ever seen," according to Woosley. Both have not had jackpots as large as they have in previous years.
Woosley is departing the lottery on Aug. 3 after serving after its director since February 2012.
Asked why the agency thinks Quik Run is the fiscal 2020 best seller, Scott Hardin, a spokesman for the state Department of Finance and Administration which includes the lottery, said, "While we can't speak specifically to this location, we can share what makes a strong retailer.
"The state's top retailers tend to utilize a consistent set of best practices in selling and promoting lottery," Hardin said. "Store employees are trained to offer a lottery sale to customers. They continually fill the lottery bin while also keeping it clean. As new games are received, they are quickly activated and offered to customers. Winners are advertised within the store. Location is certainly important as foot traffic is key."
Asked if the store's location contributed to its sales, Aaron Oh said, "I guess it is a little easier just because it is a busy intersection and they see all the banners hanging" over the entrance about $50,000, $95,000 and $125,000 winning tickets being sold there.
"It's like a lot of people just stop by before work and after work," he said.
Aaron Oh said the store displays more lottery tickets on its counter than most stores that he has visited.
"We try to get every single game that is available," Aaron Oh said. "We also try to display the ones with the jackpots still remaining because I know some stores don't keep track of that. But at the end of the day, people want to try to win a jackpot, so if you are selling a ticket that doesn't have anything left, I just feel like there isn't the point."
He said customers are able to purchase lottery tickets with their debit cards, unlike some other lottery retailers.
"Whenever somebody has change ... like if they have a dollar or two, I'll suggest a ticket or a Natural State [Jackpot] ticket to get rid of the last buck or two," Oh said. "A lot of people, they'll just go for it, because it's only a dollar or two. I guess it is like small stuff that kinds of adds up."
Oh said many customers like scratch-off tickets with a top prize of $500.
"A lot of customers will buy the [draw game] ticket called Cash 3," which has a $500 top prize, he said.
Aaron Oh said he has about five customers who spend $50 to $100 on the Cash 3 game each day.
Meme West of Little Rock, a surgery scheduler, stopped by Quik Run to buy tickets late Thursday afternoon.
"I like the people" selling tickets at the store, she said. "They are real nice, so I keep coming and then I win enough to keep playing.
"Whenever I go in to cash mine in, a lot of other people are cashing theirs in, so I think they have a lot of winners," she said.
West said she buys tickets just about each day and spends about $50 a week, largely on the Mega Millions, Powerball and Natural State Jackpot games.
"They remember you," she said of the store's employees. "For instance, I don't have to say anything. I'll walk in and [Aaron Oh] will say, 'You want your Natural State and your Lucky for Life [tickets]?' ... He knows what I'm going to get."