They advertise that customers may purchase time on the internet and possibly win money in a sweepstakes game. Some state on their front windows that they also offer faxing, copying as well as internet access.
As of Friday, three such stores were operating in Fuquay-Varina and a fourth was awaiting a final inspection and planning to open this week. Another may be in the works.
Last week the question of the businesses’ legality came up before the town board. In discussions it was pointed out that video poker is banned in North Carolina, but that a loophole exists in the law that is allowing video parlors to operate and to multiply. Store owners sell time on the internet to customers who then have an opportunity to win cash in sweepstakes games. Most also advertise that they offer business services such as copying and faxing.
Commissioner Jimmy Johnson introduced the subject at the board meeting . He said a citizen who patronizes a hair salon in the Blalock Shopping Center had told him she has had trouble getting a parking space in the shop’s parking lot since an internet sweepstakes store opened nearby.
Town Manager Andy Hedrick and his staff were asked to gather information about the law and how other towns are handling it for presentation to the board at next Tuesday’s meeting.
Rep. Paul Stam of Apex, asked last week about the loophole, said he could not describe the language that creates the opening for the stores, but he said people are working on loophole-eliminating changes in the law to be considered when the General Assembly meets for its short session in May. The three internet access stores now operating in Fuquay-Varina are the Internet Sweepstakes, located on Main Street next to Tractor Supply, the 401 Business Center, also on Main Street in the Blalock Shopping Center, and Internet Sweepstakes in the Dollar General shopping center on South Main Street. Store owners in general insist that their business is no different from fast food chain stores that sell a customer a product and, at the same time, give them a ticket which may entitle them to a prize. Commissioner Johnson said this week he had been told a fourth one will be opening once tax season is over in a vacant store space in the Wal-Mart Shopping Center.
Johnson said he is not opposed to gambling. “I did not oppose the North Carolina lottery,” he said, explaining that he does have a problem with stores advertising themselves as business services stores, (copy, scan, fax, internet) while their primary business is renting internet access to sweepstakes games. He also questions whether there is a way to prevent such stores from drawing customers in numbers that consume more than the store’s share of parking spots.
Fuquay-Varina Police Chief Larry Smith said when the store near Tractor Supply first opened, the owner came to see him and provided materials about the business and some related court rulings. Smith did not remember the man’s name. The chief said he immediately called ALE (Alcohol Law Enforcement) to determine whether the store operation that had been described to him is legal and was told that, at the present time, the law does not prohibit such stores.
Jerry Roy, owner of the store on South Main Street, set to open this week, said he has another store at the corner of Gorman Street and Avent’s Ferry Road in Raleigh. He said he sees the internet games as entertainment. Roy said Fuquay-Varina does not have much to offer in the way of entertainment, no theater or bowling alley. He said the majority of his customers are middle aged women.
Roy, who lives in Fuquay-Varina, said he likes the fact that all of the sweepstakes games are predetermined. “I have no control over the outcome of the games,” he says. “I like that.”
All of the stores have similar layouts with counters along the walls, computers lined up on the counters and a chair in front of each. Customers pay an attendant for the amount of time they want to use the computer. If they win at a game, the payoff is immediate “ . . . unless it’s something really big,” Roy says. A sign states: “Maximum redemption $599.”
At Roy’s place $5 pays for 20 minutes on the internet.
“I’m going to do what the state says,” Roy said of the controversy about the legality of internet sweepstakes. “Everything has to be regulated, and we know everything is going to be taxed.”
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