Meet the Shopkeeper: Beverly & Allister MacGillivray of Apple on the Wharf

Uniqueness is the best seller for beverly. Photography by Elizabeth Kaiser Confiant

Some shops are defined by what they sell. Apple on the Wharf is defined by what you might discover next.

Step inside Beverly and Allister MacGillivray’s shop at the Big Fiddle and you will find jewellery, vintage sterling, glass, china, pottery, Royal Doultons and more. Look a little further and you may come across sterling flatware, vintage woollens, silk scarves, leather bags, antique coins, Cape Breton books, or even a signed jersey from a sports legend.

There is no typical shelf and no predictable find and that is exactly how they like it.

“Our biggest-selling category is miscellaneous. People come in because they never know what they’re going to find.”

About 15 years ago, Beverly began selling unique antiques at the Joan Harriss Cruise Pavilion. Before coming to the Sydney waterfront, she operated an antique shop in Mira. She enjoyed the business but wanted to be closer to downtown and the activity surrounding the waterfront.

The move became the beginning of Apple on the Wharf. For Beverly, the business was a natural extension of something she and her husband had shared for years: an appreciation for old things and the stories they carry.

“We have always loved old things,” Beverly says. “The shop grew from our own collecting and from wanting to share that with other people.”

Allister is well known throughout Cape Breton and far beyond as a musician, songwriter and composer. He is the writer of the beloved “Song for the Mira” and many other songs rooted in Cape Breton’s people, communities and traditions.

Creativity also runs through the next generation of the family. Beverly and Allister’s children, Fiona and Ciarán MacGillivray, are accomplished local artists and musicians who became known internationally as founding members of the Cape Breton Celtic group The Cottars.

At Apple on the Wharf, Beverly brings that same sense of creativity and curiosity to the art of collecting. Much of the inventory comes from estate sales. Beverly hosts estate sales here in Cape Breton and, while spending time in Florida, she and Allister attend sales in search of unusual pieces to bring home.

When they enter a sale, they rarely follow the same path. “We go in two different directions,” Beverly says. “We have two different sets of eyes. Allister will notice something I might walk right past and I’ll find something he never would have considered. That’s part of what makes it work.”

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Some items sell almost as soon as they arrive. Others wait longer for the right person. Beverly believes those slower-selling pieces still have an important role to play. “Some things may sit for quite a while, but they help set the scene,” she says. “They give the shop its character. Even if someone doesn’t buy that piece, it may be what draws them inside or gets them looking more closely.”

For Beverly, uniqueness is the shop’s true bestseller. Customers are not simply searching for something old. They are looking for something distinctive, something with character and something they are unlikely to find anywhere else.

Every piece has already lived a life before reaching Apple on the Wharf. Beverly and Allister may not always know the complete story of every object, but they understand that its story does not end when it arrives in their shop. The right customer can give it a new home and a new chapter.

“That’s what we love about this,” Beverly says. “We’re bringing together history, discovery and the people who see something special in these pieces. Our customers are foraging for antiquities, finding new connections in old treasures.”

Visit Beverly at Apple on the Wharf inside the Joan Harriss Cruise Pavilion and take your time looking around. You may arrive without knowing what you want, but that is often the best way to find something unforgettable.