It is estimated a location sells a winning lottery ticket every five years, but the Westchester 7-Eleven store owners had not seen any luck in five years of operation.

That changed last week, on the store’s five-year anniversary.

The ticket was sold June 16 at the Westchester convenience store, 10235 W. Roosevelt Road. It was a second-place ticket, because the $46 million Mega Million had no winner. The winner will receive $250,000, although the winner has yet to come forward.

Rudi and Taban Shah, who own and manage the store, were notified June 17 about the ticket.
“We were telling people (June 16) that a winning ticket comes up about every five years, we didn’t think it would happen on the date,” Rudi Shah said.

The 7-Eleven sold more than $1,300 in tickets June 16 with the concentration being sold between 6 and 8 p.m., Rudi Shah said. She does not have any guesses of who the winner might be, although she expects she will know the person, or at least recognize him or her.

“We get a lot of regulars buying tickets,” she said.

The ticket holder is not the only big winner. The location that sells the winning ticket also earns some money.

Rudi Shah said she does not know how much money her store will receive, but the amount is determined by the amount of the lottery check. The store will get 1 percent of the check’s amount.

This is the first winning ticket the 7-Eleven has sold under the Shahs ownership, but each of the location’s two previous owners also sold winning tickets, she said.

“It was great news,” Rudi Shah said. “Something nice to hear in the morning. Something to wake you up with.”