In June, Wawa began a pilot program in 20 locations to test customers' receptiveness to self-service Pennsylvania Lottery sales in its stores. In October, after Pennsylvania Lottery sales proved successful in all pilot locations, Wawa approved expanding the lottery sales to all 210 Pennsylvania Wawa stores [image-nocss] by springtime 2011.
Wawa president and CEO Howard Stoeckel joined Rendell for the announcement at a Wawa store in Philadelphia's Chinatown neighborhood.
"Wawa has always embraced change and innovation as a way of continually simplifying our customers' lives," said Stoeckel. "I'm excited to introduce our latest innovation, self-serve Play Central Terminals from the Pennsylvania Lottery, which will give our customers the added convenience of purchasing lottery games and tickets at Pennsylvania Wawa stores."
If that sales increase is realized, it could potentially bring up to $11 million more a year to support the Pennsylvania Lottery-funded programs, Rendell said.
"When I became Governor, one of my first priorities was to direct the lottery to grow its retail network to maximize sales and profits," Rendell said. "We wanted the Pennsylvania Lottery to operate more like a business, and it is. After courting Wawa for nearly two decades, a self-service sales model developed by the Pennsylvania Lottery finally attracted the partnership of thecompany that never partnered with a lottery until this year. The lottery's industry-leading technology and innovation combined with a sales model designed to fit Wawa's needs created a terrific new partnership between two Pennsylvania institutions."
Today, Pennsylvania Lottery tickets are available in 68 Wawa stores, and by the end of December, 89 Wawa stores in the greater Philadelphia area, Lehigh Valley, Poconos and northeast Pennsylvania will be selling tickets for instant and terminal-based lottery games.
In 2004, Pennsylvania became the first U.S. lottery to offer touchscreen, self-service terminals that sell instant, numbers and lotto-style games. Currently, there are more than 1,000 self-service terminals located at retailers statewide. The sales model developed specifically for Wawa incorporates these terminals and backoffice accounting mechanisms tailored to Wawa's needs.
Since Governor Rendell took office in 2003, the Pennsylvania Lottery has grown its retail network by 24%, or more than 1,700 locations. Lottery sales have grown by more than $1.1 billion, or 59%, since fiscal year 2001-02, and last year, the lottery generated more than $915 million in profits, an increase of 22% from fiscal year 2001-02.
The Pennsylvania Lottery remains the only state lottery that designates all its proceeds to fund programs that benefit older residents, it said. Since its inception 38 years ago, the Pennsylvania Lottery has contributed more than $20.1 billion to programs that include property tax and rent rebates; free transit and reduced-fare shared rides; the low-cost prescription drug programs PACE and PACENET; long-term living services; and the 52 Area Agencies on Aging, including more than 600 full- and part-time senior centers throughout the state.
Privately held Wawa Inc., headquartered in Wawa, Pa., has more than 570 c-stores throughout Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey and Virginia.
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