Napier pharmacy sells Lotto $1m winning ticket amid Art Deco Festival

Andrew Spence outside his Onekawa pharmacy, celebrating yet another Lotto Division 1 winning ticket sold from his store.

Art Deco Festival weekend in Napier won one lucky punter much more than a straw hat and a flapper dress.

Andrew Spence Pharmacy in Onekawa sold a Lotto ticket that won its buyer $1 million in Saturday’s draw.

Pharmacy owner Andrew Spence said it was the 21st time the business had sold a Division 1 winner since 1987.

He said no one had come into the store to claim the prize when spoken to by Hawke’s Bay Today on Monday but he and his staff were waiting in anticipation with prize claim forms at the ready if the winner walked in.

“Sometimes if they know that they’ve won, they may just go straight to head office in Lotto up in Auckland and make the claim through there because they can put the money straight into their bank account,” Spence said.

“Sometimes it’s someone who is completely surprised and overwhelmed because they weren’t expecting it because they were just checking their tickets from last week.”

He said Art Deco weekend was a really busy time for the store.

“We expected the focus to be in town, but we were kept occupied all day and we definitely noticed a lot of visitors in the Lotto queue dressed up in Art Deco [costumes].”

Spence was now wondering if the winner was a visitor to the region who had gone home with some extra cash in addition to their holiday photos.

However, he said, regardless of where the winner resides, the team at the pharmacy felt privileged to sell another winning Lotto ticket.

“We feel very fortunate that luck has shone on Onekawa and our community.

“We’ve actually given back a huge amount of cash over the years to people in our community and we’re very grateful that Lady Luck decides to smile on us.

“I’d like to congratulate our winner, wherever they are, whoever they are, and I hope they enjoy their winnings.”

Jack Riddell is a multimedia journalist with Hawke’s Bay Today and has worked in radio and media in the UK, Germany, and New Zealand.