"MacPherson’s Fruit & Produce, a neighborhood icon on the corner of 15th Avenue and Columbian Way, has announced that it will be closing next month. It’s running a “going out of business sale” on many items as it tries to shed its inventory before closing on October 8. Manager Elias Benitez told the Seattle Times that the rising costs of produce made it hard for the shop to maintain the low prices it was known for. Bookkeeper Marilyn Dimalanta told the South Seattle Emerald that this higher overhead made it impossible for MacPherson’s to pay employees as the legal minimum wage rises and a labor shortage gives service industry workers more employment options." - Harry Cheadle