Moe’s on Main

Dana Maureen Mueller owner of Moe’s on Main.

204 S. Main St., Shawano
(715) 201-0036

Owning and operating a gourmet popcorn shop wasn’t on Dana Maureen Mueller’s radar until just recently, but today she is doing exactly that at Moe’s on Main in Shawano, and she said it only became a reality because of her family.
When she was younger, she said she dreamt of moving away from Shawano to a bigger city.
“I went to Milwaukee and Rockford, Ill., for school, and moved to Green Bay for work. In my late 20s, I moved back to Shawano to help my mom because my dad got sick. After moving back and spending time in both big and small cities, I have to say, I do really love small towns after all.”
When she moved back to Shawano, she worked at a home decor store in Green Bay where part of her job included accompanying the owners on buying trips.
“I loved those trips — setting up the store and helping people find unique things to call their own,” she said. “I wanted to open my own store and thought downtown Shawano would be a great location, especially after all the work the city had done in that area. I quit my job at the retail store with the dream of opening my own, but I didn’t have a plan in place. I ran out of money after a month and went to work at Schneider Bulk in Green Bay. The job was OK, the commute was a drag, and I still dreamed of running my own store.”
In 2022, her family saw a chance to help her to realize her dream, but it was for a completely different type of business — a popcorn shop.
“The property on the corner of Division and Main went up for sale and my dad decided to buy it,” she said. “He’s always had plans and ideas for businesses, and he knew about my hope of someday owning my own store. He and my mom discussed what would be a good fit for Shawano. They had both traveled throughout Wisconsin to other small towns, specifically recalling visits to Door County, Wisconsin Dells and Waupaca, and they knew popcorn shops were doing well in those areas. With all the events in downtown Shawano and in the nearby parks, they thought a popcorn shop would be a great addition. They approached me with the idea and the name, Moe’s on Main, and asked if I wanted to open a shop in the building they purchased. I thought it sounded like a fun adventure, and we started planning the layout and envisioning the shop.”
Getting the shop ready for business was a bigger undertaking than they anticipated because the building, formerly a flower shop, needed extensive work, according to Mueller.
While her older brother, Lee Mueller, who owns Mueller Construction and Design in Clintonville, was doing the renovation and remodeling, Mueller and her mom traveled to Rockwall, Texas, to meet with Craig Johnston who runs a gourmet popcorn store and consults for anyone looking to open their own popcorn business.
“We spent a week in his shop learning how to operate machinery, testing out different recipes and shopping,” she said. “We tell everyone we went to Popcorn University. Craig also connected us with a shop in Louisiana that was looking to liquidate equipment and we were able to snap it up at a great price. My brother and husband flew to Louisiana and drove the equipment back.”
Today, that equipment is making popcorn to fill the warmers at her display counter where she offers between three and six flavors a day.
“I have a huge recipe book of different popcorn flavors and can make sweet or savory popcorn,” she said. “I feature flavors such as caramel popcorns with different chocolate drizzles, a sour black cherry, cheesecake, churro and chocolate covered cheesecake on my shelves. I also serve warm popcorn out of the warmers, and every day I will have movie theater butter, extra buttery caramel, and cheddar. I have spots for two other types of flavors and will rotate those flavors either weekly or bi-weekly.”
Other flavored popcorn she can make include loaded potato, jalapeno cheddar, dill pickle, parmesan garlic and a variety of candied flavors. The candied flavors include the sour black cherry, cheesecake, lemon, orange, grape, marshmallow, butterscotch and toffee and have a texture similar to caramel corn.
“Our best seller is the extra buttery caramel,” she said. “I’ve had a lot of people tell me it’s the best caramel corn they’ve ever had.”
It’s also her mom’s favorite.
“It’s made using the movie theater butter and uses a pound of butter in the caramel, so it’s a much richer and robust caramel flavor,” Mueller said. “I also use Mexican vanilla in the caramel that provides a deeper vanilla flavor. My favorite is the movie theater butter; it’s just like what you get at the theater. Perfectly salty and buttery.’
Moe’s on Main also offers a variety of ice cream from the Chocolate Shoppe out of Madison and numerous flavors of shaved ice including sugar-free options. She also plans to make cotton candy fresh for customers when she adds more staff.
Unique candy such as cinnamon toffee squares, Mexican hot chocolate bites and caramels are also available as well as gift boxes and tins for putting gift boxes together with popcorn. There are also reusable popcorn containers that include a first fill of popcorn free and 50 percent off popcorn when you bring it back in for a refill. Small gift items such as ice cream-themed and popcorn-themed purses, key chains and socks are also sold in the shop.
While she said Moe’s on Main became a reality because of her family, the name of her business is also related to her family. More specifically, it’s related to her.
“I’m Moe,” she said. “My family has called me Moe since I was an infant because my middle name is Maureen. The funny thing is that growing up I never knew why everyone called me Moe. I didn’t figure it out until I was a freshman at college and a girl in the dorm was named Maureen and went by ‘Mo.’ Then, it dawned on me. All those years answering to ‘Moe’ was always because of my middle name.”
As a new business in Shawano, she wants to be involved and give back to small town she loves.
“I want a successful store and business that also enables me to help the community through fundraising, donations and supporting local organizations,” she said. “Right now, my focus is the storefront, serving freshly popped popcorn, premium ice cream and fun shaved ice in a welcoming environment. In the future I would love to partner with sports teams and other school groups to implement a unique fundraising program. I want to expand into offering special orders for events such as weddings, baby showers, corporate gifting and other private events. For future growth, I want to develop a solid website that allows people to order popcorn for shipping.
“I’m looking forward to participating in the events downtown,” she said. “I’m sure there will be plenty of traffic from tourists, but I hope to become a favorite spot for locals to come after school or dinner for a fun treat.”