Lottery has some unique vendors

Thursday, March 23, 2006 posted 03:19 AM EST

CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Thousands of retailers are getting ready to sell North Carolina lottery tickets. But it won't just be convenience stores and supermarkets.

The Paper Doll Lounge, a Charlotte strip club, will be offering the lottery along with its lap dances. There will even be tickets sold at Financial Freedom Planners, a north Charlotte business that helps clients secure mortgages and eliminate debt.

Visla Ealy, a broker at Financial Freedom Planners, said it抯 not ironic to have the tickets sold at her workplace.

"Someone's long-term financial gain or prosperity could be funded by the lottery,?she said Wednesday, six days before scratch-off tickets will be available for the first time.

Ealy doesn't see it as promoting gambling -- just another way to gain business.

"If they didn't buy them here, they'd buy them somewhere else,?she said.

Another unique lottery vendor is the Sleep Time Mattress Center in Gaston County. Its reason for selling tickets? Everybody else is.

Every retailer had to apply for a license and pass a background check first. State officials checked for any criminal history, and they made certain that tax payments were up to date.

"It was not difficult; we didn't even know it was done,?said Karamjit Kaur of Cigarettes and More, a business located off Pineville-Matthews Road in south Charlotte.

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