Lexington’s last Dairy Mart, one of Kentucky’s biggest lottery retailers is closing
An institution in Lexington and with the Kentucky Lottery is cashing out.
The city’s last Dairy Mart, at 155 Reynolds Rd., will close for good on Saturday at midnight because the owner lost his lease.
The convenience store has become legendary with lottery players, who would line up to buy at this particular location: It’s the top-selling spot in Lexington and many years has been the top-selling retailerin the state. Players just seem to find it lucky.
Owner Eddie White, 84, said Thursday that he’s sad to say goodbye to his longtime customers but circumstances “made it impossible for us to stay here.”
“I wasn’t ready but life’s too short to dwell on things,” White said. That philosophy is “what keeps me going.”
A few weeks ago, he began telling longtime patrons, many of whom have been coming in for decades.
“I would like to thank all of my customers that have allowed us to serve them over the last 56 years. We appreciate every one of them,” he said.
White said this was his fifth store, opening in 1975. He opened his first Dairy Mart in November 1964 on Waller Avenue. Now the Reynolds Road location is the last Dairy Mart left in Lexington after the chain was purchased by Circle K several years ago.
White still goes to work every day from 6:30 a.m. to about 3 p.m., even after 56 years.
“I’m an institution,” he said. “I’ve been around here forever.”
The secret to his success? “Treating the customer right,” he said.
Since the Kentucky Lottery began on April 4, 1989, he’s been selling tickets. In fact, White apparently sold the very first Lotto Kentucky ticket — a game requiring players to pick six numbers between 1 and 42 — to Gov. Wallace Wilkinson on Oct. 16, 1989.
White said that the biggest winning ticket he ever sold was a $1 million lottery win. That person chose to stay anonymous. “But I know who it was,” he said. The customer came back and secretly told White.
“I’ve had several in the $250,000, $100,000 range,” he said.
In fact, Kentucky Lottery president and CEO Mary Harville is planning to stop by on Friday to say goodbye and celebrate all the wonderful years together, an indication of what the loss will mean to the Kentucky Lottery Corp.
“Eddie White and his store have been legendary fixtures for the Kentucky Lottery since the very first day of sales more than three decades ago,” Harville said. “Eddie’s passion for selling lottery and level of customer service and relationships with the people in and out of his store will be hard to match. He has certainly set the bar high for other Lexington retailers where customers will now go for their tickets. We are confident that our other retailers will be able to step in and provide the same great products to our loyal customers, as always, but there is only one Eddie White.”
One thing White’s never done: Play himself.
Some people might think he had an “in” on winning numbers, he said. “If I was to win, they would say it was fixed, and I don’t want to leave that impression on my customers,” White said.
What does he plan to do now? “Probably not get up at 5:30 in the morning,” White said.
This story was originally published August 27, 2021 at 11:35 AM.
