Lottery Windfall Zaps Customer Loyalty, Says Bloomfield Biz Owner

There is a seemingly lucky grocery store on North Broad Street and West Passaic Avenue that sold a last December.  But that is small change compared to two other big-win tickets sold at the same grocery this year.

One ticket was claimed for $216,284.00, the other for $79,359, said Vinnie Patel, owner of the Krauszers/Yogi Grocery at 1263-1267 North Broad Street. 

The problem, he says, is that every time a big winning ticket is sold the customer disappears.

“I lose money when they win,” he sighed.  “The lady who bought the [$216,284.00] ticket, she used to come here for coffee.  I knew her face.  I knew she had won.  After winning the number she never came back.”

When asked why the customers never return, he shrugs.

“She doesn’t want to give me the bonus,” he says, referring to the practice of lottery winners giving the store a small percentage of their win.

“It doesn’t matter if we don’t get a tip,” he insists.  “I just don’t like losing customers.”

By the look of things on Monday night, that is not a big problem for Patel.  A steady stream of customers came in and out the door, almost all of them buying lottery tickets. 

One, who said she came in only to buy groceries, heard about the winning lottery tickets and decided to buy one.  “Ok, give me a ‘Win For Life’ now,” she laughed.

Patel’s nephew Abahishek Barvalia, who works with him every night in the store, said relatives who own convenience stores in Dover and Rutherford have a similar problem with disappearing winners. 

“We all have the same experience,” said Barvalia.  “After they win money they retire.  And then we never see them again.”

As they spoke, regular customer Jermaine Floyd, who works down the street as a night crew chief at ShopRite, came in to buy his nightly lottery ticket.

“When I come out of work, I come down here.  I always buy them here,” he said.  “I play number 803 every day.  That’s my number.”

Floyd says he recently won “three-something” –meaning, a winning ticket worth more than three hundred dollars.

“I win periodically,” he said with a grin.  “I’ve been real happy.  It is what it is, y'know?”