Raceway no longer sells lottery tickets
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As the owner of Randy’s Raceway Market on Sparta Street, Marsh says it’s one of the main reasons he stopped selling lottery tickets after five weeks.
“I’ve seen men, and women too, cash their paychecks and easily spend $100 on tickets,” said Marsh. “And I see them lose that money time after time. I’ve seen a lot of families spending so much money on tickets, you wonder how they’re going to get by the next month. What it comes down to is I want to be a convenience store, not a casino.”
The Tennessee lottery is nearing its second full month of operation as it generates money for an estimated 65,000 college scholarships this fall.
The lottery hasn’t been without its share of controversy as early outrage centered around the $750,000 salary of CEO Rebecca Paul and the other high salaries of lottery executives. In recent weeks, lawmakers have wrestled with legislation which would keep professional companies from running gambling operations for nonprofit charities (see story page 3-A).
Marsh said he was contacted by a Nashville lottery official urging him to continue selling tickets. Marsh said the lottery official told him Raceway Market sold more lottery tickets than any other store in Warren County.
Raceway Market was also reportedly in the top five in lottery sales in a seven-county region. Yet Marsh says he was finding more and more reasons to discontinue lottery sales.
“If you sell a lot of lottery tickets, you sacrifice money in other areas,” said Marsh. “Your gas sales go down and so do your grocery sales and your deli sales. That’s not to mention the extra labor that’s required for the lottery.”
Marsh said at the top of his list of complaints is that lottery customers aren’t in a hurry to leave, which is a different mentality than most convenience store customers.
“They go out to their car and scratch their tickets, then they come back in with those tickets and get more,” said Marsh. “They stay parked in front of my gas pumps, or parked in front of the store, and prevent other customers from coming in.”
Marsh did admit store owners are fairly well compensated for selling tickets. They receive 6.5 percent of every dollar in lottery sales, which is roughly 32 cents for a $5 ticket.
In one final note, Marsh said he wanted to dispel several rumors circulating about his reasons for ending lottery ticket sales at his store.
“This was something I made up my mind to do on my own,” said Marsh. “But you wouldn’t believe some of the stories I’ve heard. I’ve heard that the lottery got taken away from me. I’ve heard that I’m selling the market. Some of it has just been ridiculous.”