Executives with one of the state’s most prominent convenience store chains say last month’s record Powerball jackpot significantly increased foot traffic inside their stores.
“The Powerball jackpot got to a half billion dollars,” says Bill Walljasper, chief financial officer for Casey’s General Stores. “…We actually saw same-store Lottery (sales) up 44 percent in the month of November.”
Casey’s saw a six percent increase in the number of customers who came inside the convenience stores in November and Walljasper attributes that Lottery sales.
“Intuitively, with some of that traffic we certainly imagine cross-sale opportunities,” Walljasper says. “Hard to quantify, but we certainly believe that was a benefit.”
Casey’s General Stores became a lottery retailer in the past decade. Installation of lottery equipment in Iowa Casey’s stores began in mid-September of 2005 and was completed in all 350 stores by January of 2006.