AUGUST BUSINESS OF THE MONTH SPOTLIGHT — FIVE POINTS MARKET

Rick and Spanky Martinez, owners of Five Points Market, and the winners of Connect Del Rio's August Business of the Month thanks to their homemade burgers.

Connect Del Rio sat down with Rick and Spanky Martinez of Five Points Market, the winners of our Business of the Month for the month of August. 

Thanks to their loyal customers and support of the community, their burgers were voted best in town on Connect Del Rio’s Facebook and Instagram accounts. 

Born out of the necessity for paper goods, including toilet paper, paper towels, and personal protective equipment during the height of the pandemic, Five Points Market was opened to meet the needs of the community at that time. “I looked into the first HEB that was running during the Spanish Flu and the way that they designed the partition from the customers to the actual products,”  Rick explained. “To meet the social distancing needs in 2020, we designed the store to look almost like the first HEB in Texas, to accommodate the medical needs of that time, I told people, if it worked during the Spanish flu, there’s no reason it can’t work now, and it did.” 

Designed to be a nostalgic call back to the stores of 60 or 70 years ago and inspired by their time living and working in the Hill Country and exploring the markets in New York’s Little Italy and Mulberry Street, Spanky and Rick focus on organic and fresh produce, canned goods, sauces and salsas, goat milk skincare products, kitchen knives and much more. “In 2019 we went to New York and met the owners of a few shops and restaurants in Little Italy, and Spanky asked them how they do everything that they do,” Rick said. “I just fell in love with the markets in Little Italy and Mulberry Street and I thought, why can’t we do something like this in Del Rio?” Spanky shared with us. 

They emphasized the importance of sustainability and self-sufficiency, sharing that Spanky makes and fills the shelves with more than 70 different products at one time, from preserves to homemade ice cream, depending on the season. They also stock their farmer’s market-style store with products from local vendors and small businesses, a majority of which are female owned. “I got in touch with a lot of local people and tried to find everything that was as natural and organic as possible,” Spanky told us. “About 80% of the small, mom and pop shops that I work with are women owned businesses,” she continued. “I don’t deal with any bigger companies or distributors, everyone in here is all mom and pop shops, everything that you can’t find anywhere else, and if we don’t have it, we’ll find it for you.”

Five Points Market offers an assortment of fresh, organic, and in-season produce from vendors all over the state and locally.

Their unique brand and style of customer service also stems from their time working at Gibson’s stores in the hill country, where Rick and Spanky learned a number of things about running a store, including how to source their products. “The customer service of our employees is excellent because they have excellent character and they are an awesome representation of our customer service values,” Rick said. “All of our staff care about doing something good and worthwhile and their work reflects that.” 

They also believe that this approach draws in customers with similar values. “Everyone says that you walk into the store and you feel like you’re walking into a store from 60-70 years ago,” Rick began. “It was designed for that reason because stores like that last a long time traditionally, and maybe attract a certain type of character of customer.” 

Their now-famous burger menu came from their “sample Saturdays” where they sample various products and food, including chips and salsa, preserves and cheese, brisket, and more. “Every Saturday we do a little bit of sample stuff, you come in, we’ll have salsas and preserves and different things you can sample before you buy it and give you recipe ideas, and that’s how it started,” Spanky told us about the origin of their food menu. “Then I started making brisket because I wanted people to try my seasonings and in the midst of selling my seasonings I started selling food and then the food started becoming more popular, leading to me doing the burgers and it just ballooned and took off from there.” 

The burger menu, featuring a growing variety of burgers named after and by their customers, is available Monday-Saturday, sometimes Sunday from noon to around 6pm. Customers can call or message them on their Facebook page to place orders, with delivery service coming soon. 

Spanky told us that the menu will most likely continue to grow and expand, with offerings that include Wagyu and grass-fed beef, lettuce wraps and sourdough bread and other options coming in the future as customers request them. 

Though they’ve been open for four years and have garnered a large following, they are still blown away by the reaction to their food and beyond grateful for the continued support of the community and Connect Del Rio’s award. “I’m very grateful and very happy that everybody loves it but it was a huge shock," Spanky told us about winning the Business of the Month award for their burgers. “Above all else, we want to express our gratitude for the community, the support that they’ve shown Spanky is immeasurable,” Rick shared. “We’re real appreciative because the community showed us so much support, Del Rio’s been so supportive and it’s really been shocking because you don’t expect that," he continued. “From Buena Vista to San Felipe and beyond, we appreciate all of the customers that come in here.”