The DriveThru Lottery I-777 has been open about a month, selling everything from scratch-off games and Powerball tickets to cigarettes and soda. It's located off Interstate 77 near the Carowinds amusement park less than a mile inside South Carolina, where the lottery is legal.

A menu board picturing some 20 scratch-off games greets customers just like a fast-food restaurant, but instead of speaking blindly into an intercom, the player drives up to the window and places an order with an attendant.

Some folks drive away before playing, while others scratch off their tickets and drive back around to collect their winnings.

"I'll come through there and cash them in next time," said Alonzo McKinney, who decided to walk into the store on a recent afternoon and buy $50 worth of $2 Weekly Bonus scratch-off games. "I just wanted to come in and see how it looked."

The inside is mostly bare with a few electronic machines that offer sweepstakes games and jackpots worth up to $1,000. There's also a television to watch the drawings and countertops where customers can sit to scratch off cards or pick numbers.

A back room offers quiet for serious players who want to think about the numbers and make calculations, said Chad Sangaree, who along with Randy Salter opened the DriveThru Lottery.

Salter, 55, owns the building and property, but Sangaree, 33, came up with the idea to convert the old bank into a drive-through lottery stand.

The official grand opening was Saturday, and the owners planned to have bands, food and plenty of lottery tickets.

"The company is self-sufficient, but Randy and I haven't made any money," said Sangaree, who also works for East Coast Amusement, which owns the sweepstakes machines. "It might work out great, it might not."

Salter, who owns Carolina Boats located next to the drive-through, said customers at gas stations often become frustrated with the long lines at cash registers and having to wait behind lottery players.

He says that's why his business makes perfect sense.

And it's not the only convenience store to offer goods through a drive-through.

Two Cash & Dash stores on the South Carolina coast offered goods via drive-through before the lottery was legalized.

They've added lottery tickets to the many items, including gas, they now sell.

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