Jayco Fish and Cheese opens in McGregor
On April 18, representatives from the McGregor-Marquette Chamber of Commerce and city of McGregor and other community members joined Jayco Fish and Cheese for a ribbon cutting at the new business in downtown McGregor. (Photos by Audrey Posten)
Chawna Loper, pictured here greeting a customer, and Brooks Niedziejko own Jayco Fish and Cheese. The store has been a long-time goal of theirs, and features seafood and locally caught and smoked fish, as well as cheese, meats, jams and jellies, honey, syrup and more.
By Audrey Posten | Times-Register
Customers can get a taste of the Mississippi River—and of the region—at Jayco Fish and Cheese, now open in downtown McGregor.
Owners Brooks Niedziejko and Chawna Loper said the store was a long-time goal, hastened by the retirement of Mike Valley and the closing of his iconic Valley Fish and Cheese Market in Prairie du Chien at the end of 2024.
It’s also a natural extension of the couple’s popular Jayco Mobile Fish Fryer food truck, which offers meals of deep fried fish, French fries and cheese curds.
Expanding the trailer from brick and mortar “has been a lot of fun, but work,” acknowledged Loper.
She assured the trailer won’t be going away any time soon. It was even parked in front of the shop on April 18, to celebrate Jayco’s grand opening and ribbon cutting.
“I know some people have come to our store just because of the trailer. People from Guttenberg, from Independence. We’ve had people from all over say, ‘You have a store now. We’re going to come,’” Loper shared.
Niedziejko has been commercially fishing roughly 25 years, learning the ropes under Valley and Valley’s uncle, Donald Valley.
“I fell in love with it and just kept with it,” he said. “Now, I’m probably the youngest full-time commercial fisherman.”
In general, fewer people are in the career field.
“When Mike said he was done, it was either we had to pick up on it right away and keep it going, or it was going to be a done deal,” Niedziejko said.
In addition to fishing, Niedziejko learned smoking and brining techniques from Valley.
“He taught me all the secrets,” he quipped.
Customers can taste the result. Along with other seafood items, smoked fish is the most popular product sold at Jayco Fish and Cheese.
“Probably our most popular smoked stuff is our local caught—the catfish and the carp. We catch and clean it all ourselves,” Niedziejko said.
“Salmon is popular,” added Loper, “and we also have some local jellies, honey, maple syrup, meat. Then we just got some stuff in from Louisiana. We have some trinkets too.”
Loper said their family likes to know where their food comes from, “and we figure other people like to know also. That’s why we chose to do jam and honey from our area.”
Jayco is excited to be in downtown McGregor, where higher foot traffic can draw both locals and tourists into the shop.
Loper said community response has been positive since a soft opening last month. Jayco is now open daily, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
“The weekends, especially, have been really good. A lot of the same people going in and out, which is good. It lets me know we’re doing something right,” she said.
Net covered windows and signs hand painted by Valley advertising smoked carp, catfish and turtle jerky, boudain, shrimp and more grace the building’s exterior. It gives visitors a sense of what to expect: the tradition Valley started but with new touches by Jayco.
“The local stuff is what’s going to keep people coming back. The different, unique local items you can’t find anywhere else,” Niedziejko said.
