Feeling Lucky? Idaho store is home of the “Utah Lottery”
A convenience store in southern Idaho is proudly known as “the home of the Utah lottery” since people from hours away travel to play Powerball and scratch games that are unavailable in Utah.
Faustine Richins, manager of La Tienda, a convenience store near the Utah-Idaho border, said more than 90 percent of people who buy lottery tickets at the small gas station in Franklin, Idaho, are from Utah.
La Tienda ranks either first or second in the state when it comes to number of tickets sold, Richins said, since it and a Malad store are closest to the Utah border.
Richins, who has seen a $16,000 winner and won $10,000 herself, said the majority of car license plates in the parking lot are owned by Utahns who think “it’s cheaper than going to Wendover.”
Logan resident Chuck Mikesell said he goes to La Tienda once or twice a week to play $3 bingo, his scratch game of choice. Mikesell said the odds are always stacked against him, but it’s more about entertainment than anything else.
“It’s just a fun game,” he said. The most he has ever won playing bingo is $100, he said, and he has also won $40 playing Powerball.
Cassidie Breese, also from Logan, said she never plans on winning a lot of money, but did get lucky once.
“The very first time I bought a ticket I won $40,” she said, though she hasn’t won that much since.
Richins said people who come to La Tienda from the Salt Lake area tend to make a day out of it by stopping at the cheese and cookie factories on the way.
“It’s just amazing how far they’ll drive,” she said.
Once a month, Ed Lubereski, 76, travels from his home in Ogden to Franklin where he spends about $80 on Powerball tickets.
Three of his grandchildren attend Utah State University and on his way, he takes them out to lunch and to Pepperidge Farms to stock up on cookies.
He said he uses his birthday and his wife’s birthday for his Powerball numbers.
“I’ve been lucky a few times,” he said Monday.
While Lubereski said he hopes “to hit the big one,” he likes to play the lottery just for fun and he never spends more than he can afford to lose.
The store that draws gambling Utahns from miles away also drew appearances from Biff Henderson of “The Late Show” with David Letterman and the cast of Napoleon Dynamite, Richins said, though she wasn’t present for either appearance.
On April 1 of this year, a ticket was sold which earned a banner on the wall that reads “Idaho Powerball, $200,000 winner sold here.” Richins said seven of the eight winners who split the cash prize were from Utah.
La Tienda doesn’t appeal to Utahns for its gambling alone, Richins said. Some people purchase beer there for the higher alcohol content, and some 18-year-olds buy cigarettes there as they can’t do so in Utah.
Whether it’s the gambling, the novelty or the $1 drafts on karaoke night, customers flock to La Tienda, and that’s good business.
-mof@cc.usu.edu
La Tienda sits just north of the Utah-Idaho border, a short drive from Logan. That proximity is enticing for many Utahns. The store’s manager says about 90 percent of people buying lottery tckets have Utah License plates on their cars.