“The winners had come into town to get their ticket checked and I happened to be in the shop changing over some Lotto posters when they saw me and stopped,” store manager Renee Grant said.
“We had a bit of a sit-down together once I had been able to confirm their huge win. They were shocked.”
Grant said she was a bit stunned to have sold a prize so big. This is the biggest winning ticket the store has sold to date.
“It’s quite unbelievable for the shop,” she said. “It’s been a long time between major prizes for us.”
Grant Bros’ last major winner was a First Division prize in 2021.
The shop’s only other Powerball winner was in 2017, when a ticket sold at the store won $6m.
The last major Lotto prize won in Gisborne was a $1m Lotto First Division winning ticket sold via the MyLotto app in February this year.
“We’re so thrilled for the winners,” Grant said.
Store owner John Grant said it was a fantastic result.
“That’s what we’re here for … to give money away.
“It’s great for the region, great to get some positive news like this for Gisborne.”
The Grants were not able to comment further on the huge win.
“There will be a release put out by Lotto on it in terms of what the winners plan to do with their windfall,” Renee Grant said.
Lotto players from Auckland, Northland and Thames-Coromandel also won $250,000 each from Lotto First Division.
One Division Two winner pocketed $50,419, while one Strike player won $400,000 with Strike Four.
The winning numbers were 3, 34, 14, 16, 31 and 23. The Bonus ball was 33 and the Powerball 7.
Previous major Lotto wins in Gisborne
A Lotto ticket sold in the small East Coast settlement of Ruatōria in May last year netted one lucky Lotto player $142,857.
That same month, a Lotto player won $200k from a ticket purchased at Ballance Street Bookshop in Gisborne.
Previously, a $500,000 winning ticket was sold at Lytton West Post & Lotto in Gisborne in October 2024.
In September 2024, a winning ticket was sold at Pak’nSave Gisborne, netting someone $166,667.
Seven Gisborne friends split a $1m win for $140,000 each for a ticket bought online in January 2024, while another Gisborne player won $1m that month from a ticket bought on MyLotto.