Stop N Shop, located at 2501 North Huffman Boulevard in Rockford, may appear to be a modest neighborhood convenience store, but it might just be a lucky lottery hotspot after recently selling a $10,000,000 top-prize-winning Illinois Lottery scratch-off ticket.
“We’ve sold a few big winning tickets before, ranging from $100,000 to $900,000,” said Raj Patel, manager of Stop N Shop. “I kept saying ‘The next one has to be a million-dollar winner,’ but I never in a million years expected it to be worth $10 million!”
Patel shared his excitement about the win, stating, “We are absolutely thrilled for the winner—this is the kind of moment every lottery retailer dreams of. Our customers are just as excited knowing that life-changing lottery prizes really can be won right here in our local store!”
He went on to express gratitude for the community’s long-standing support: “My family has proudly owned this store for over 25 years, and we’re lucky to have such a nice, loyal customer base. In fact, we know most of our customers by name. That’s why it’s so surprising we haven’t figured out who the lucky $10 million winner is yet, but we’re hopeful they’ll stop by and share the big news with us soon!”
The lucky winner is the first to take home the top prize on the $10,000,000 Bankroll game, which launched in November of last year. The game has three $10 million top prizes and 15 $1 million prizes available.
This is also a big win for the retailer that sold the winning ticket, as the store will receive a selling bonus of one percent of the prize amount. For Stop N Shop in Rockford, that means a bonus of $100,000.
When asked how he plans to use the bonus, Patel shared, “We’re going to use a portion of the bonus to give back to our employees, who are such an important part of our success. We also plan to invest in some much-needed upgrades to the store. And this summer, we’re hoping to host a fun celebration to thank our loyal customers—so stay tuned for that!”
So far this year, more than 21.5 million winning Illinois Lottery Instant Tickets have been sold, netting players over $568 million in prizes.
The Illinois Lottery currently offers a range of Instant Ticket games priced from $1 to $50, available at approximately 7,000 retail locations across Illinois.
The Illinois Lottery encourages all winners to write their name on the back of their ticket and keep it in a safe place until they’re ready to claim their prize. Winners should visit IllinoisLottery.com/winning for more information on how to claim their prize.
Instant Tickets b-roll, produced by the Illinois Lottery, is available for the media; download here.
Be Smart, Play Smart®. Must be 18 or older to play. Game odds available at IllinoisLottery.com.