A Toronto bakery is offering customers a chance to win some serious dough.
World Class Bakers in Humewood gave away a free Powerball ticket with every purchase of $20 or more Tuesday.
The massive US$1.4 billion Powerball jackpot south of the border is believed to be the largest lotto jackpot ever offered anywhere in the world.
Canadians are allowed to buy tickets for the jumbo multi-state lottery, but they are not sold in Canada. While some websites offer to purchase tickets on behalf of Canadians, Powerball cautions people against doing so. The tickets themselves cost US$2.
World Class bought 500 Powerball tickets and offered them to customers “as a thank you for their business.”
The promotion started Monday afternoon and by 2:30 p.m. Tuesday, all the tickets were gone.
However the bakery said the promotion would run until Wednesday night and that someone would go pick up more tickets from the U.S. in time for the bakery’s 8 a.m. opening Wednesday.
“When it hit the record after nobody won on Saturday night, we decided to go down on Sunday and pick them (the tickets) up,” bakery manager Suzanne King told CP24.com. “We decided it would be a good promotion to get the word out about the store and kind of bring some cheer to people in January when it’s kind of ughh with the weather.”
This isn’t the first time World Class has brought a big U.S. jackpot to its local customers.
“We did it once before years ago when it was at a record of $600 million or something and it went very well then,” King says. “So when I heard the (new) record, I thought, ‘ok I’m going down.’”
While the draw is being billed as a $1.4 billion pot, that amount refers to the value of the prize in annual payouts. A lump-sum payout could be significantly less, depending on state tax rules. However the lowest possible lump payment for a winner is still thought to be at least US$570 million.
However that nuance didn’t seem to bother customers. Since offering the tickets yesterday, business has been booming and all hands are on deck to churn out the store’s signature banana bread and rugelach, King says.
“This morning when we got there, there was a lineup outside the store already in the storm,” King says. “We’ve had a steady flow ever since. We’ve had people from King City, Barry, Burlington, from all over – they’re very excited.”
As for concerns about getting the ticket second-hand, King says getting the ticket from the bakery is different from buying from an online broker because the bakery gives out the physical ticket.
“We hand the actual ticket out. It’s not like a broker where they warn people against that because unless you legally have the ticket, you’re not legally in ownership of it,” she says.
As for what she’d do herself if she won, King says it’s too much money to contemplate.
“That type of money is just crazy,” she says. However helping people out and donating to Sick Kids would be on her list.
The Powerball draw takes place at 11 p.m. on Wednesday.
