Charlotte, N.C.- Customers at one of Charlotte's oldest strip clubs may soon find a new use for their dollar bills -- buying lottery tickets.
The Paper Doll Lounge on Wilkinson Boulevard, with its hot-pink awning stating "The Grand Daddy," is among the 5,000 retailers the state approved to sell the games. The lottery debuts March 30, with many outlets in gas stations and supermarkets.
"We're the only (strip) club that has it," said owner Chris Falls. "And I also have something the convenience stores don't."
Tickets will be sold at the entrance booth, behind a partition that includes silhouettes in profile of two naked women. Falls, who said his 40-year-old club is Charlotte's oldest, expects competitors will offer the games once they learn he has them.
"It's another way to make money," Falls said.
In Eastern North Carolina, a sex toys shop in Kinston will sell tickets alongside adult movies, novelties and games.Maurice Jackson, owner of Fun-N-Stuff, said he doesn't see a problem with a shop like his providing tickets. People need to be 18 or older to enter the store -- as well as to buy lottery games.
And he said he gets to support education, because all lottery proceeds are to go to educational expenses.The state doesn't track how many adult-oriented businesses will sell tickets, said Alice Garland, the lottery's deputy executive director. "Unless we can tell by the name, and we were wondering about the Paper Doll Lounge, we're not able to tell" if it is an adult site.
Garland said she felt certain, though, that she'd hear comments about the lounge.
Any N.C. business can apply to sell tickets, and the only restriction is that it cannot run an operation that just sells lottery tickets. Owners must be current on state taxes, be at least 21, pass a credit check and can't have had recent felonies.
Retailers earn 7 percent commission on each ticket sold in their store. The lottery will roll out scratch-off tickets first. Powerball will start May 30, followed by other numbers games.
At the Paper Doll on Tuesday, a young dancer who calls herself Harley drove to work with her mom and other family members. Lottery tickets sold well at other clubs where she has performed, Harley said.Just don't use the tickets as a tip. Harley prefers cash.
