With all the talk about lottery ticket vending machines, you’re probably wondering where they might pop up in your community. Based on comments made by lottery officials, we have a pretty good idea about potential machine locations and places that you probably won’t see them.
Where You Won’t See Them
Despite the lottery director’s desire, we do not expect lottery ticket vending machines to show up in large retail stores in Arkansas. Walmart has a longstanding corporate policy that doesn’t allow for the sale of lottery tickets in their stores, so don’t expect any machines there. We are not sure yet about Target, Home Depot, or any other “big box” stores.
Commission officials, including the lottery director, have said that they’re trying to target “non-traditional locations” (i.e. new markets) for the vending machines, so you probably won’t see machines in convenience stores that already sell tickets over the counter.
Where You’ll See Them
In a story from the Associated Press this morning, lottery spokesman Julie Baldridge “declined to say which companies” would be approached about the machines, but did say that, “Fred’s and Dollar General do have lottery vending machines in their stores in other states, so it is something they’re already familiar with.”
Based on other comments made by lottery officials over the past few months, we expected this to be the case. That’s why we sent letters yesterday to over 400 small retail stores in Arkansas—including Dollar General and Fred’s—warning them of the controversy surrounding the machines.
Additionally, Lottery Director Ernie Passailaigue has expressed desire to see the machines in “big retail chains, grocery stores and airports.” Our best guess is that he means Kroger grocery stores and the Little Rock National Airport.
Bottom Line
The bottom line is that anywhere you see a Coke machine, Red Box, or video arcade game, you could one day see a lottery ticket vending machine. That could include malls, restaurants, and many other places of business. For the time being, though, you can probably expect vending machines to appear in discount retail outlets and places that do not typically sell lottery tickets in Arkansas.
