EVERETT — Bread, milk and eggs weren’t on the shopping list for these guys.
Cashtastic, Lucky Loot and Bonus Money brought them to the Safeway at 7601 Evergreen Way in Everett.
Austin Clark, 20, and his friend Kolton Gill-Gage, 18, came for scratch tickets, hoping to feed their wallets at their go-to lottery store.
The guys didn’t know the Safeway was among the Top 10 luckiest retailers in the five-county North Puget Sound region, according to Washington’s Lottery.
The lottery based the lucky lists for the state’s seven regions on the number of draw and scratch tickets sold in 2020 with prizes worth $1,000 or more. Hilltop Red Apple Market in Seattle was crowned the luckiest retailer in the state, with 17 tickets topping a grand.
The Fred Meyer at 4615 196th St. SW in Lynnwood had seven qualifying wins that totaled $1,087,065, including a Hit 5 ticket for $370,000. The Bothell Fred Meyer, 21045 Bothell Everett Highway, had eight big wins with $947,490 in prizes.
Other lucky retailers in the region are Safeway stores in Edmonds, Lake Stevens and Arlington; WinCo Foods in Everett; Ferndale Mini Market in Ferndale; the Fred Meyer at 12906 Bothell-Everett Highway in Everett; and another at 2902 164th St. SW, Lynnwood. The North Puget Sound region covers Snohomish, Skagit, Whatcom, Island and San Juan counties.
Wins in 2020 by Clark and Gill-Gage didn’t didn’t factor into the lucky status of the Evergreen Way Safeway, where two gleaming lottery vending machines stand at the ready near the door. Tickets also are sold at the customer service desk.
“The most I’ve won is $200,” Clark said. “I play based on the odds.”
If the guys win, they plunk it back into more scratch tickets.
They use the Washington’s Lottery mobile app to scan in the duds to earn reward points redeemable for merchandise at the trickling rate of about one point per dollar spent. Sometimes the guys score a few extra points by scanning in losing tickets left behind by others. The menu of items includes a magazine subscription for 600 points, a Mariners cap for 2,100 points and a 3,200-point rice cooker.
Lottery ticket winners have 180 days from the draw date to claim the cash prize. Check your tickets. The state’s official lottery’s app has a ticket scanner.
Mido Lott, a new app being marketed to Washington residents to order Powerball and Mega Millions tickets, will notify you when it is time to check your tickets to see if you’ve won. Mido Lott users load funds into a wallet to buy tickets, but there’s a convenience fee to go with it.
Lottery officials warn Mido Lotto is not affiliated with or licensed by the state.
“Because neither the Mido Lotto app nor its creator is an authorized, licensed retailer, Washington’s Lottery cannot guarantee the validity of purchases made via this app or appropriate payment to the player for tickets redeemed through the app,” the lottery statement said. “At this time, Washington’s Lottery is evaluating the situation in consultation with the Office of the Attorney General and the Washington State Gambling Commission.”
Andrea Brown: abrown@heraldnet.com; 425-339-3443. Twitter @reporterbrown.
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