Best Practices Awards 2017

A recently installed Lottery machine at a Fine Wine & Good Spirits retail store .

BY MELISSA SHERWIN

As a result , the PLCB was permitted to sell Pennsylvania Lottery tickets in its wine and spirits stores . Additionally , statutory language prohibiting stores from opening on holidays , limiting PLCB Sunday store operating hours , and capping the number of stores allowed to be open on Sundays was eliminated . Both of these measures offered the possibility of enhanced customer service and additional revenue for the state , and the PLCB worked tirelessly to implement changes in its stores as quickly as possible--in some cases , in as little as two days after the new laws took effect in August 2016 .

Carl Jolly , Director of Retail Operations for the PLCB , says the agency was able to act so quickly because staff members relied heavily on data analysis to make timely , well-informed decisions . Working closely with Pennsylvania Lottery administrators , the PLCB staff carefully reviewed detailed sales information and surveyed other lottery ticket sellers located near the agency ’ s more than 600 Fine Wine & Good Spirits stores . When the agency identified which of its stores were ideal for lottery sales , staff members immediately set up site visits to install equipment , ensure system connectivity and train store employees .

“ Two days after the act went into effect , we had 24 of our stores operating with lottery machines ,” Jolly says . “ Within the first week , we were up to almost 50 stores . By October 2016 , more than 300 stores had lottery machines installed and operational .”

In addition to installing new store equipment and overseeing training for thousands of employees , the PLCB also developed internal policies for retail staff and lottery officials and created new promotional marketing materials . Their efforts paid off considerably : as of August 2017 , 318 PLCB stores were selling lottery tickets and collectively generated more than $ 10 million in lottery sales revenue since the initial rollout a year ago .

The lottery component was just one of the major changes to the PLCB last year as a result of Act 39 . Jolly and his team spent a great deal of time meeting with retail managers to determine which stores would likely be most profitable if they extended Sunday hours , and also which stores might benefit from being open on Sundays at all .

When the law took effect , the 188 stores already open on Sundays had their hours of operation expanded by three hours , and by the end of September , more than 300 stores were open on Sundays with expanded hours . That number has since grown to 326 . Also , PLCB stores began opening on certain holidays for the first time over the past year to offer additional convenience to Pennsylvania consumers . Adding days and hours of operation

16 StateWays | www . stateways . com | September / October 2017