A store in Brunswick County has earned a special distinction as the top lottery retailer in the state. Unfortunately for those who shop there, the recognition doesn't have anything to do with how much people won.
According to a press release from the North Carolina State Auditor's Office, Calabash Food and Fuel was "by far the largest lottery sale retailer statewide."
The store recorded over $7 million in lottery sales in the 2025 fiscal year, more than $1.5 million more than the runner-up.
Despite all these purchases, the store saw no big winners. The town of Calabash didn't record a single major prize winner of $100,000 or more in the 2025 fiscal year. For comparison, Leland recorded three sales of tickets that won $100,000 or more and Wilmington
recorded 2.
No other store in the Wilmington region cracked the top 10 largest lottery sale retailers in the state. The next closest was the PhoenixMart at 2280 S. 17th St. in Wilmington, which recorded about $2.3 million in lottery sales.
Brunswick County was allocated $6.3 million in state lottery funding in fiscal year 2025.
How did the N.C. Education Lottery perform overall?
According to the report, N.C. Education Lottery sales increased dramatically between fiscal years 2023 and 2025, going from $4.3 billion to $6.6 billion. However, the portion of lottery sales being transferred to the Education Fund declined by 17% in that same period. The change is due to a shift in how people are playing the lottery.
"(The N.C. Education Lottery) shifted toward higher-payout products, particularly digital instant games, which generate substantial sales volume but leave fewer cents of each sales dollar available for transfer to the Education Fund," the report states.
Charlie Kingree is the Pender County and trending topics reporter for the StarNews. He can be reached at ckingree@usatodayco.com.
This article originally appeared on Wilmington StarNews: Brunswick store sells more lottery tickets than anywhere else in NC
