BRIER — Charles Andrade’s family has owned their small grocery store for nearly four decades, but they’ve never sold something this big.
A Washington’s Lottery ticket worth more than $12 million was sold at Brier Grocery shortly before the July 3 announcement of the winning numbers. The combination is 05-12-13-27-34-49. The ticket hasn’t been redeemed yet.
Rumor around the quiet town in the shadows of Mountlake Terrace says that the ticket holder knows they have a winner, but that they’d like to keep their privacy.
Brier covers about 2 square miles and is home to nearly 6,300 residents.
The winner has until Dec. 30 to collect the money. If they don’t, two-thirds goes to future lottery prizes and the rest to state economic development efforts.
Andrade’s mother owns the store, and bought it in 1981. He works there with his sister and aunt.
The family moved to Brier soon after they bought the shop.
The biggest festival in town is SeaScare, an annual community gathering each summer. It includes a parade that moves past the few downtown businesses — the grocery store, a coffee stand, a hair salon and an Italian restaurant.
Andrade’s father passed away last year, and the city dedicated the celebration to him.
“That was an awesome thing they did,” Andrade said.
Almost everyone who comes into the shop lives in town. Andrade rarely has a customer he doesn’t recognize, and many stop by everyday.
“About 80 percent of our clientele are regular customers,” he said. “Brier is growing so every now and then we see a new face, or people who have moved away and came back.”
Lottery tickets make up between 10 and 20 percent of the business. It’s higher when there’s a big drawing.
Andrade doesn’t know of anyone ever winning more than $10,000 from the store. News about the multi-million dollar prize spread quickly.
“We sold the big one,” he said. “People are talking about us.”
Still, someone needs to claim it. It’s rare that a prize expires. The largest uncollected winner was a $1 million second-tier Power Ball jackpot, according to the Lottery.
To get the money, the winner must visit any of the six Washington Lottery regional offices. The only one in Snohomish County is near Silver Lake in Everett.
Stephanie Davey: 425-339-3192; sdavey@heraldnet.com; Twitter:@stephrdavey.
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