On Friday, the Powerball jackpot ballooned to $800 million dollars, the largest lottery in U.S. history.
If the winner chooses the lump sum option, that person would take home almost half a billion dollars.
As the Powerball jackpot continues to climb, the lottery is proving to be a success for local businesses.
The frenzy of being an overnight millionaire has customers flocking to local mom and pop shops.
Some people believe a small shop on Secretary Drive and Matlock Road in Arlington is the luckiest store around because it’s produced so many winning tickets.
They poured in Friday afternoon hoping to buy the winning ticket.
Besides purchasing lotto tickets, people are also picking up other items in the stores.
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That translates into big sales for retailers.
At one store in Arlington, business owners say they are making monthly profits in just one week.
“We are a lucky store,” said employee Nick Ramal. "That is helping us sell our other stuff, as well, like sodas, chips, plus gas, as well.”
Another added bonus is the five percent commission retailers make on each ticket sold.
“Most of the time, we have one to three people in line and now it’s like 10,” says Ramal.
And, if more folks than expected buy into the frenzy the pot could be even higher.
“Plus somebody wins here we get one percent up to $500,000 that would be nice to,” says employee Jay Patel.
