West Bend, WI – It was August 23, 2017, when the building at 600 N. Main Street aka Toucan Custard sold; records in the city assessor’s office noted the Estate of Robert Sivilotti and Lawrence Porter sold the building to Issa Bashabsheh for $225,000 (building). Now, nearly six short years later the property is for sale again. The list price is below.
For 27 years the family of Al and Debbie Moehr family ran the iconic Toucan Custard shop.
“The frozen custard shop was our dad’s baby, and it was a great part of our childhood,” said Jacquelyn Heise. “I’ve been here all 27 years.”
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Al Moehr bought Toucan when Jacquelyn was 14 years old. “I didn’t really have any thoughts on it,” she laughed. “I had my own thing going on.”
Rebecca vividly remembered walking down the hill with her brother Allen to get ice cream. “I was 9 years old, and we lived close, and my brother and I walked down here. It was fall and although it was cold, we sat outside eating a black forest ice cream cone,” she said.
“We were by ourselves, and we were able to get whatever we wanted.”
The girls recall having instant jobs and climbing the ladder from the entry-level position of making waffle cones to serving custard then on to manager.
“None of us really wanted to cook,” said Jacquelyn.
“I remember I was a manager at 14 years old because my dad needed one,” said Rebecca. “I cried and said, ‘I can’t be a manager.’”
Rebecca remembered being younger than the 16-year-olds she had to train. “It was so weird,” she said.
Just in their teens and running a business, the girls said their dad was normally a phone call away.
“Oh, dad would call down here like six times a shift,” said Rebecca. The pair then mimicked Al’s grilling. “How are things going? How much custard do you have? Do you need help?”
The decision to sell the business in 2017 came from a couple different angles. Larry Porter and his wife own the building with a business partner who passed away in April.
The Moehr family sold the business to brothers Suleiman and Issa Bashabsheh.
Now the parcel is on the market again and listed at $375,000. The 2020 assessment is listed at $207,900.
On a side note: A Toucan Food & Custard is opening April 2023 on Grand Avenue in Port Washington. The business will serve Leon’s custard and Leroy Meats of Horicon with a Middle Eastern food menu. The owners are listed as Sul and Jackie Bashabsheh.