A Kelowna convenience store sold a regular customer his regular lottery ticket back in November and it was a big winner.
Nick Pisio won $1 million on the Lotto 6/49 draw guaranteed prize on Nov. 7th.
He bought the ticket at the Mac’s store at Springfield Road and Benvoulin Road, which was a weekly routine for three years.
It prompted a celebration at the store one month later.
Staff gave away coffee, donuts and 100 free Lotto 6/49 tickets for Wednesday night’s draw.
The tickets went fast.
Gurjeet Patara, the employee who was behind the counter the day Pisio checked his ticket, remembers it vividly.
“He was shocked. He didn’t understand what was going on,” Patara said. “I didn’t realize either until we got the full story. He was in celebratory mode.”
Patara said Pisio is the store’s biggest lottery winner.
Staff were happy to celebrate with Kelowna residents, she said.
“We wanted to give back to the community and get them to celebrate that we had someone local win,” she said. “They’re excited and they’re happy we’re leaving it in the community and helping others.”
On collecting his money, Pisio told the BC Lottery Corporation he plans on traveling and retiring early.