LYNN — After more than 40 years in business, Cal’s News Store in Lynn has finally sold its first $1 million lottery ticket.
Until this Wednesday, such a claim to fame had always eluded the popular Central Avenue spot, which sells hundreds of scratch tickets every day.
“My lottery currier just phoned me yesterday morning to tell me that someone had claimed (the ticket) at lottery headquarters,” said co-owner Barry D. Calvani Thursday.
Calvani said his father was one of six original lottery agents in the state, which made the fact that the convenience store had never sold a winning lottery ticket even more surprising.
“To the best of my knowledge, we’re the only family that still operates their business out of the original six,” he said. “We had never sold a million-dollar scratch ticket before, and we were the butt of many jokes for many years.”
The situation had become so much of a running joke locally that just two months ago, Cal’s was the subject of a news story highlighting the fact. However, Calvani said the frequent ribbing only made the news all the more sweet.
“As soon as I heard we (sold a winning ticket), I phoned my dad and said ‘we’re off the schnide,’” he said. “Needless to say, I’ve told everybody who walks through the door — all my regular players.
“They’re pretty happy because, as I said, we’ve been the brunt of a lot of jokes around here.”
Although he’s curious about which of his customers bought the ticket, Calvani said all he knows about the lucky recipient is that they chose to collect the payment over the course of 20 years, which leads him to speculate the winner is a younger person.
Cal’s will also receive $10,000 from the win.
“It’s a good feeling. I’m happy for the winner,” Calvani said, adding: “Leave it to 2020 to be the year we pull off something like that.”
