New owners take over Lewes Daily Market

It’s the kind of place where everybody knows your name.

Most people who frequent the Lewes Daily Market have known Paul Cunningham II for the 11 years he has worked there. But now they know him as one of four new owners who took over the convenience store Jan. 2.

Cunningham said previous owners Tim Wallace and Brad Alwood decided to sell the business after 31 years.

“We’ve been coming in here for years, since we were kids,” Cunningham said. “It’s always been a really special place. When it came up for sale, we jumped at the opportunity.”

The other owners are Brad Hlinko, Tommy Engel and Clint Fluharty. Cunningham said they all operate their own successful businesses, so they are counting on him to run the store day to day.

“We’re not going to make any major changes,” he said. “Just freshen it up a little bit. A lot of our customers just like the feel when they come in here.”

The Lewes Daily Market location at 420 E. Savannah Road used to be home to the Lewes Dairy Store.

Now, it is a lot of things to a lot of people – a deli, a convenience store and a place to buy lottery tickets. The store has a reputation for selling winners.

“We like to refer to ourselves as the ‘lucky store,’” Cunningham said. “We’ve never had the big Powerball or Mega Millions jackpot, but hopefully sometime soon we can accomplish that too.”

A lot customers hope so too.

Jeffrey Allen, who manages a fast food restaurant nearby, has been coming in for about a year to try his luck. 

“I hit a $1,000 ticket here a couple of months ago,” Allen said.

“I come all the way down here from the other side of Lewes every Thursday to buy my tickets,” said Bruce Newman. Newman said he is still looking for that big winner, but he has done well of his NFL super picks.

Frankie Castillo works at Beebe Healthcare. She said she has been coming in for 30 years. 

“They always have what I happen to be looking for. I like the sandwiches, ham and Swiss on rye,” she said. She also was buying lottery tickets.

Cunningham said the biggest challenge so far has been to get the vendors and billing in line.

“It’s going to take a lot of work, but we’re all dedicated and whatever it takes, we’ll do,” he said. “We care about the history of this store. We care about Lewes. Lewes is growing, the area is growing, and we’d like to grow with it.”