Kroger Plans Lottery Vending in Ark.

SN STAFF

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — Kroger Co. has inked an agreement to offer Arkansas Scholarship Lottery tickets through vending machines in its stores, according to reports.

Kroger had previously said it did not expect to roll the machines out to its 33 stores in the state that sell the lottery tickets, but has since reconsidered, according to an Associated Press report. The machines have been in test in about eight convenience stores.

"We felt that this is something that our customers will want to have the option to use and have available to them at the different hours they shop," Joe Bell, a Kroger spokesman, was quoted as saying in the AP report.

Neither Kroger nor the Arkansas Scholarship Lottery could be reached for comment by SN.

Legislation that sought to ban the machines was recently defeated, opening the way for the Kroger agreement, reports said.