"It will be a very busy week this week," Sands said yesterday, in between serving customers.
Greerton Lotto has sold a lot of million-dollar-plus winning tickets over the years and has something of a reputation as being one of the country's luckiest Lotto stores.
In fact, according to Lotto NZ, it is New Zealand's fifth luckiest Lotto store (tied with two other stores), having sold a total of 27 First Division prizes. Of those, three were Powerball First Division wins.
In February 2015 a retired couple won $4.5m and later that year, in September, another couple won $5m.
Greerton Lotto's biggest win came in December 2017, when a Tauranga man won $5.5m. He chose to donate an ambulance to St John Tauranga with some of his winnings.
Still, Sands said she would like to sell "a really big one" – like $28m, for instance.
"To have a big win come to Greerton or even Tauranga would be just amazing. To have one of our locals or regulars win money like that would be seriously life-changing for them and their families and their friends."
She said she still sees the $5.5m winner from time to time, and the couple who netted $4.5m at her store still come in every week for a Lotto ticket.
Sands said once a Lotto jackpot hits $20m she starts to see a lot of new faces coming into the store.
She said people Google "lucky Lotto shop" and come into Greerton Lotto especially, sometimes getting a photo at the same time in front of her trophy wall, with their ticket.
Lying below that trophy wall, behind the counter, are her lucky charms – Pippi and Johnny the two English staffies.
"It was after we got them actually that we got all those winners in a row," Sands said.
"And they need to do their job because we haven't had one for a little while. So it must be our turn coming around again."
One of the customers buying a ticket at Greerton Lotto yesterday was Karen Wilson, who works at the pharmacy down the road and was there on behalf of the staff Lotto syndicate.
They've never won big before, she said.
"This is our fifth week, I think, of reinvesting. But usually, we don't take Lotto tickets."
Wilson said if they won the $28m, with her portion she would probably buy her kids a house each, maybe a holiday home for her, and an overseas trip – "Europe … the Greek islands."
Meanwhile, at Springfield Superette and Lotto in Rotorua, the first Lotto ticket of the day yesterday was sold at 7.10am, to a customer who came in to get a pie for breakfast.
Raj Kumar, the owner of the store, said he sees "unprecedented numbers" of Lotto customers when the jackpot gets this high.
"When it gets to such a huge amount even the person buying a pie in the morning wants to," he said, before adding: "Breakfast of champions, don't forget."
Raj Kumar, the owner of Springfield Superette & Lotto Shop in Rotorua, says he sees "unprecedented numbers" when the jackpot gets this high. Photo / Stephen Parker
On Saturday, when the jackpot was $25m, Kumar said it "just pumped".
"There were people coming continuously, a stream of punters."
Now, with the jackpot having rolled over and increased even further, it's only going to get busier.
In June 2015 Kumar sold a ticket that went on to win $24.3m. It is still the Bay of Plenty's biggest Powerball prize of all time.
He was in the store the day the customer came in to check it. It was a local, familiar face.
Kumar said he still sees that family every now and again. He said it would be nice for another local customer to be as lucky as they were, come tomorrow night.
A tough ask if Pippi and Johnny were to work their magic in Tauranga and swing the draw Greerton Lotto's way.
Top 5 Lotto Powerball wins in the Bay of Plenty – of all time
1. June 2015: Springfield Superette and Lotto (Rotorua) – $24.3 million 2. April 2004: Meikles Kawerau (Kawerau) – $14.7 million 3. January 2008: Bureta Superette (Tauranga) – $13.3 million 4. August 2011: Murupara Four Square (Murupara) – $12 million 5. May 2011: Countdown Rotorua (Rotorua) – $10 million
