Theres no fuzzy intercom, and you cant super size it, but a new drive-through dedicated almost entirely to selling lottery tickets has popped up near the N.C. state line.
The DriveThru Lottery I-777 has been open about a month, selling everything from scratch-off games and Powerball tickets to cigarettes and soda. Its off I-77 near the Carowinds amusement park less than a mile inside South Carolina, where the lottery is legal.
A menu board picturing some 20 scratch-off games greets customers just like a fast-food restaurant, but instead of speaking blindly into an intercom, the player drives up to the window and places an order with an attendant.
Some folks drive away before playing, while others scratch off their tickets and drive back around to collect their winnings.
Ill come through there and cash them in next time, said Alonzo McKinney, who decided to walk into the store on a recent afternoon and buy $50 worth of $2 Weekly Bonus scratch-off games. I just wanted to come in and see how it looked.
The inside is mostly bare, with a few electronic machines that offer sweepstakes games and jackpots worth up to $1,000. Theres also a television to watch the drawings and countertops where customers can sit to scratch off cards or pick numbers.
A back room offers quiet for serious players who want to think about the numbers and make calculations, said Chad Sangaree, who along with Randy Salter opened the DriveThru Lottery.
Salter, 55, owns the building and property, but Sangaree, 33, came up with the idea to convert the old bank into a drive-through lottery stand.
The company is self-sufficient, but Randy and I havent made any money, said Sangaree, who also works for East Coast Amusement, which owns the sweepstakes machines. It might work out great, it might not.
Salter, who owns Carolina Boats located next to the drive-through, said customers at gas stations often become frustrated with the long lines at cash registers and having to wait behind lottery players.
He says thats why his business makes perfect sense.
And its not the only convenience store to offer goods through a drive-through.
Two Cash & Dash stores on the S.C. coast offered goods via drive-through before the lottery was legalized. Theyve added lottery tickets to the many items, including gas, they now sell.
We do pretty good lottery business, especially on Wednesday and Saturday because of Powerball drawings, said Michael Troupe, 33, a cashier at the Little River store.
There are drive-throughs across the country that offer lottery tickets, too. In Ohio, Your Mamas Drive-Thru offers customers everything from milk to soda to lottery tickets, but its setup is slightly different from the S.C. stores.
We do really good during the week, said Denise Cook, 22, who works at the Hamilton, Ohio, store. When the Mega Millions are drawn, those are our biggest days.
Cook said drivers pull up to an open area of the store, and an employee walks out to greet them, takes the order and fills it. They even place the goods into the vehicle.
The drive-through in Fort Mill is hardly as elaborate at least so far.
Salter said an intercom system is in the works, and the store plans to offer cruises to the Caribbean in customer drawings. The owners said they also want another ticket machine, but, for now, lottery officials have told them they must start with just one.
State Sen. Wes Hayes, R-Rock Hill, said he doesnt have any concerns about the store, but he did check with lottery officials to make sure the business was legal.
They say that its legal, and frankly I dont see a whole bunch of difference between a drive-through and standing in line in a convenience store, said Hayes, who fought the state lottery a few years ago.
Even with a little rain on a recent afternoon, the DriveThru Lottery attracted more walk-in business than drive-through.
Rasheda Nicholson, 27, rushed in just before the midday drawings.
Extinguishing a cigarette, the courier company owner looked at her scratch piece of paper of calculations. Unfortunately, Nicholson couldnt get her numbers in before the deadline, and she paced around the building, dejected.
I dont believe in luck. Luck is when you win the lottery and didnt buy a ticket, said Nicholson, who once won $10,000 playing Pick 3.
There was at least one happy and curious drive-through customer.
Tom Zientek, 39, of Denver, N.C., just north of Charlotte, is a service technician at Carowinds.
I didnt even know it was here, he said after buying Powerball tickets. I dont make a special trip, but if Im in South Carolina, Ill play the lottery.
i think this takews convenience a little too far.
Why not?