NORTHWOOD, IA - Since a Minnesota state government shutdown July 1 that halted lottery sales in the state, stores in Iowa near the border have in some cases tripled their own lottery sales, the Globe Gazette reports.

According to Marlene Henning, manager of Jo Stop convenience store near Northwood, lottery ticket sales have nearly tripled since July 1, with the store calling the Iowa Lottery for more tickets at least once.

Henning said some people have purchased up to $300 in lottery tickets at a time, something "you don??t normally see."

According to Mary Neubauer, spokesperson for the Iowa Lottery, other convenience stores near the Iowa-Minnesota border are also seeing steep sales increases, including a 25 percent lift for North Star Xpress in Northwood.

For more on the effects of border sales, see Run for the Border in the October 2010 NACS Magazine.