Last week the Pierrefonds ice-cream shop Twist & Crème — an institution on Gouin Boulevard which has stood for decades — was sold for about $900,000 to the Makkah Al Mukkaramah Mosque, Global News has learned. It seems the mosque will keep the shop running.
“They’re not in the ice-cream business,” said Shahid Khan, the realtor who brokered the sale. “They bought this land basically for the community, which is growing, you know. We have issues here parking.” Khan said the lot will be used for parking and the shop will continue to operate under a manager.
The mosque now owns the ice cream shop property across the street and a lot with a home on it damaged by fire. Borough officials told Global News no applications for a zoning change have been filed for either property. Many have been visiting the shop for decades.
“I remember coming here with my children in 1965,” said Alex O’Brien, a Pierrefonds resident. The former owner, Vincenza Martinez, said that she put the place on the market because the business was a full-time job in-season and that she was branching into other areas professionally.