News about $1M Powerball winner draws people to South Side store

Commercial Food Mart sold winning ticket

SAN ANTONIO – All eyes are on a South Side convenience store that sold a winning Powerball ticket worth $1 million.

Curious people are waiting to see who bought the winning ticket at Commercial Food Mart in the 2600 block of Commercial Avenue. 

The ticket for Wednesday night's drawing matched five out of five numbers, which was good enough for a second-tier prize.

In order to win the $435 million jackpot, the winner would have needed to match all five numbers plus the Powerball number.

Still, $1 million was a big enough prize to peak the curiosity of more than a few customers.

"I was thinking, 'Hopefully that's me,'" said Juan Leza, who rushed over to the store after hearing the news. "I want to win the million dollars, but no. I already checked my tickets, but I was not."

Rizwan Awan found his phone ringing off the hook at Commercial Food Mart as soon as he arrived to open the store Thursday morning. But his day actually began around 6 a.m. with a phone call at home from a regular customer.

"I just woke up, and he told me, 'I just saw it on the Internet. Did you check the Internet? Somebody won from your store,'" Awan said.

Awan expected the rest of the day and the days ahead to be hectic. 

He said this is the largest lottery ticket that the business has sold in the 13 years he has worked there. 

The news about the winning ticket, Awan said, could be a lucky break for the store.

"It'll help the business. We'll do good," he said.

The store, it seems, is also a winner. 

The owner receives a cash prize for selling the winning ticket.


About the Author:

Katrina Webber joined KSAT 12 in December 2009. She reports for Good Morning San Antonio. Katrina was born and raised in Queens, NY, but after living in Gulf Coast states for the past decade, she feels right at home in Texas. It's not unusual to find her singing karaoke or leading a song with her church choir when she's not on-air.