“Publix, where shopping is a pleasure.” The iconic catchphrase for the Florida-based grocery chain rang true for not one, but two record-winning lottery winners here.
And now that Powerball shot past the $1 billion jackpot mark for Saturday, Dec. 13, people may be buying up more lottery tickets while shopping for groceries. The record-setting Powerball lottery jackpot comes ahead of Hanukkah and Christmas.
Could a $2 Powerball lottery ticket make someone a multimillionaire? As they say in the lottery business, “it could happen to you.”
The last billion-dollar lottery drawing was won Sept. 6, 2025, when a pair of tickets from Texas and Missouri split the $1.8 billion Powerball jackpot. That draw produced several second-tier winners, including a ticket-holder in Florida.
Attention, shoppers: 10 Publix stores in Florida sold winning lottery tickets in a week, one worth $123,000
The Saturday, Dec. 13, 2025, Powerball drawing marks the 14th time in history that a Mega Millions or Powerball lottery jackpot reached or surpassed $1 billion. Only once in history did a grand prize reach $2 billion, claimed by Edwin Castro of Altadena, California.
Florida has seen billion-dollar lottery jackpot wins − and, interestingly, those winning tickets came from a Florida grocery store.
On Jan. 13, 2016, #MelbourneBeach was trending on social media, and on Aug. 8, 2023, so was #NeptuneBeach, both thanks to a local @Publix. In 2016, David Kaltschmidt and Maureen Smith of Melbourne Beach claimed their share of what was then the largest Powerball jackpot in the history of the game, $1.586 billion. Then, in August 2023, a winner from Neptune Beach matched all five numbers plus the Mega Ball to win the biggest jackpot in the history of Mega Millions, $1.58 billion.
Is it a little crazy − or interestingly coincidental − to think that of the 14 times a lottery jackpot has hit $1 billion or more that two of the winning tickets were purchased at a beachtown Publix in Florida and the prize was at least $1.58 billion?
What are the odds? Florida Lottery game drawing has consecutive numbers: 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9
Read on to find out more similarities and differences of this strange yet fascinating lottery coincidence.
When was the first time a lottery jackpot hit $1 billion? Who won $1.586 billion Powerball on Jan. 13, 2016?
Powerball made history Jan. 11, 2016, the first time a lottery jackpot hit $1 billion. After no one matched all five numbers plus the Powerball in the (Saturday) Jan. 9, 2016, drawing for $949 million, the Monday jackpot soared to $1.4 billion. (No one won that drawing either.) Powerball made history again when three tickets matched all six numbers to win $1.586 billion in the (Wednesday) Jan. 13, 2016, drawing.
The jackpot started Nov. 4, 2015, at $40 million. It had rolled over almost 30 times from Nov. 4, 2015, to Jan. 13, 2016, before three tickets from California, Tennessee and Melbourne Beach, Florida, claimed the $1.586 billion grand prize. In 2016, FLORIDA TODAY reported Maureen Smith and David Kaltschmidt bought their winning Powerball ticket at a Publix in Melbourne Beach. The store received a $100,000 commission from the Florida Lottery for selling one of the billion-dollar tickets.
As of Dec. 13, 2025, the$1.586 billion Powerball prize is still in the Top 10 largest lottery jackpots of all-time.
Melbourne Beach Publix is the only grocery store in that town
Sandwiched between Indialantic and Sebastian, Melbourne Beach is a small town that’s part of Florida’s Space Coast. Publix, 3830 S. SR A1A, Melbourne Beach, is in the Driftwood Plaza.
Who won $1.58 billion Mega Millions on Aug. 8, 2023? A Florida Publix sold winning ticket
Shopper Tucker Juan leaves the Publix in Neptune Beach on Wednesday, Aug. 9, 2023, where a single winning ticket for the $1.58 billion Mega Millions lottery jackpot was sold at 630 Atlantic Blvd.
![The Publix that opened in Neptune Beach is bustling on Aug. 28, 2010, while the shopping center that used to house the Publix in Atlantic Beach is left vacant. [Drew Dixon/Florida Times-Union]](https://www.newsbeep.com/us-fl/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/84cce0c095c0f86d8465515204c372a6.jpeg)
The Publix that opened in Neptune Beach is bustling on Aug. 28, 2010, while the shopping center that used to house the Publix in Atlantic Beach is left vacant. [Drew Dixon/Florida Times-Union]
After months of rollovers, on Aug. 8, 2023, someone was lucky enough to buy a $2 Mega Millions ticket worth $1.58 billion from a Publix in Neptune Beach, Florida. On Sept. 25, 2023, the winner — Saltines Holdings LLC of Miami, Florida — claimed the prize.
Like its sister store in Melbourne Beach, the Neptune Beach Publix also received a $100,000 bonus commission.
As of Dec. 13, 2025, more than two years since the “Neptune Beach Publix win,” the$1.586 billion Powerball prize remains on the list of Top 10 largest lottery jackpots of all-time and the biggest Mega Millions lottery jackpot in the history of the game.
Neptune Beach Publix where winning Mega Millions ticket was bought is next to another Publix. And formerly Lucky’s Market
The billion-dollar Mega Millions winner is truly lucky. If the person had bought their ticket just about 250 feet away at the Publix next door in the Seminole Shoppes plaza, the day after the lottery drawing would’ve been $1.58 billion less exciting.
The newer Publix next door was previously a Lucky’s Market. After closing its doors in 2020 and sitting empty until 2023, it was surprisingly turned into a Publix store – only about 250 feet away from Neptune Beach’s original Publix store.
Sangalang is a lead digital producer for USA TODAY Network. Follow her on Twitter or Instagram at @byjensangalang. Support local journalism. Consider subscribing to a Florida newspaper.
This article originally appeared on Treasure Coast Newspapers: A Florida Publix once sold winning $1 billion Powerball lottery ticket