CJ’s Custom Meats
Dawn Leslie sits at the register at CJ’s Meats in Moses Lake and is available to answer any questions about the store and help customers in any other way she can.
CALEB PEREZ/SPECIAL TO THE COLUMBIA BASIN HERALD
Alongside foods, CJs also sells smokers for those looking for something to cook with outdoors.
CJs has a wide variety of meats including German sausages, bacon, steaks, ground beef and chicken, all coming in from area ranches.
Food vendors from around Washington have their products sold on the shelves at CJ’s Meats.
MOSES LAKE — CJ’s Custom Meats is Moses Lake’s newest meat store located at 210 S. Gumwood Street. Here you can find a variety of locally raised meats and other food items.
CJ’s originated in Wapato, said Store Manager Dawn Leslie, and all the beef comes from farms around the Wapato butcher shop. The pigs come from 4-H in Ellensburg.
“We are very big on community outreach and supporting the kiddos,” she said. “Just bringing quality to the community.”
CJ’s is family owned and operated and has been in business since 1994, operating out of the farmers market for the last 20 years. Unfortunately, each September, they would have to be taken out of the farmers market as the butcher shop would be hit with elk to process, causing CJ’s to miss the final months of the market, she said.
As a result, the owners decided to go year-round. Now they have a brick-and-mortar shop, located where the Saucy Hog used to be, she said.
“So many people want us to stay, but we would like to see more people,” she said. “I’m sure as we get into grilling season and the warmer weather and get more acclimated in the community, we’ll be more busy.”
They also have nonmeat products, most of which are locally produced. Currently, they are welcoming any local shelf-stable edible products to sell, not just to fill shelf space but to help as many local businesses as possible, she said.
CJ’s offers Old Timer’s pork rinds from Pasco; Bev Be Jammin’s jams and jellies from Ephrata; Schmiggity Sauce and Cornfusion, both products of Moses Lake; Royal Foods from Thorpe; sauerkraut from Leavenworth; Bees Rubs out of Othello and Big Papa’s barbecue sauce from Yakima, she said.
“We try to go Moses Lake, Grant County, Washington, and then Pacific Northwest,” she said. “So, trying to stick local.”
CJ’s Meats owners Mike Rockholt and Mauricio “Moe” Alcaraz both work in the butcher shop in Wapato, where Rockholt is the butcher and Alcaraz is general manager, she said.
“There’s a lot of times that owners sit in their office and run the store from afar,” she said. “But they are very integrated into all areas.”
CJ’s is family owned and operated and helps support those who work for them with a lot of care, she said.
“Even those who aren’t blood-related are treated like family,” she said. “They treat me very well.”
CJ’s supports about eight families, she said. This isn’t including the local children who sell the hogs at the fair or the growers where the beef comes from, she said.
“That ripple effect when people support local – really, your dollars travel far,” she said.
The local focus and options for area shoppers will help the shop gain traction, Leslie said.
“It has so much potential there’s so much room for growth,” she said. “Like a roast, really slow, brings great results.”
Caleb Perez is a graduate of Moses Lake High School and communications major at Big Bend Community College.
CJ's Custom Meats
210 S. Gumwood Street
Moses Lake
509-761-8332
Cjscustommeat@gmail.com
www.cjscustommeats.com
