'I was in shock': Store owner gets $640,000 for selling big winning ticket

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The owner of the store where a $64-million winning Atlantic Lottery ticket was sold plans to use her seller’s commission to help fund her own retirement.

Jackpot winner Merel Chiasson verified his winning ticket at Chantal Mazerolle’s store, the Depanneur Pokemouche in the Acadian Peninsula, in March, 19 days before the ticket’s expiration date. It had been sitting in a drawer for almost a year.

Mazerolle’s daughter Katy was working the night Chiasson verified his winning ticket but didn’t even realize at that time it was the jackpot winner everyone was waiting to hear from. She texted her mother to tell her a $64,000 winning ticket had been verified in the store.

“I thought it was too bad it wasn’t the $64 million,” Mazerolle said in a news release from Atlantic Lottery. “Then, the next day, she called me to tell me it really was the $64 million and I was in shock. I told her not to joke around like that and started to cry while we were on the phone.”

Stores that sell winning tickets get one per cent commission. In this case, the biggest ticket in Atlantic lotto history, Mazerolle gets $640,000.

“It gives our organization great pride to extend the benefit of major wins beyond just the prize winner and see the positive impact they can have on others and throughout our region,” Atlantic Lottery director of brand and communications Molly Cormier said in a news release.

The store has been in Mazerolle’s family for 40 years, and she recently gave half of the business to her daughter Katy, who plans to take over the store when she retires.

Mazerolle intends to use the money to “help ensure the store’s long-term success,” to set herself up financially for retirement and to help her daughter and son with whatever money is left, according to the release.

“It’s been a really emotional ride since I found out. I was planning on retiring and handing the business over to my daughter,” she said in the release. “Now, I am going to retire with this extra gain and it will help the company reorganize and secure itself for the future.”

Since news of the win got out in the community, Mazerolle said she’s heard many kind words and well-wishes from the community, including other local realtors.

“I didn’t realize how much the other retailers recognize us,” Mazerolle said in the release. “My messenger, emails and phone were all blowing up non-stop, even my bank wished me luck.”