Belgium’s National Lottery wants to “open a chain of stores” to sell its products, and has already begun the search for locations in Antwerp, Ghent, Namur and Liège, the Gazet van Antwerpen and Het Nieuwsblad reported on Friday, based on information in the national bulletin of tenders. When asked about this, The National Lottery explained that it wanted to be closer to the lottery players. The stores would also be used to pay out medium wins, from 2000 to 25,000 euros, discreetly.

“The aim is certainly not to compete with the sales points,” a spokeswoman said.

Bookstores questioned by the Gazet van Antwerpen said they were unaware of the plans and that they felt they had been duped. 

“The National Lottery has grown because of the bookstores,” said Perstablo, an association representing bookstores and other lottery sellers. It added that bookstores accounted for close to 80% of the National Lottery’s turnover.