Scottish immigrant William Donaldson opened a small store in Minneapolis in 1881, located at 310 Nicollet Avenue.

[1] In 1883, William and his brother Lawrence purchased a 1+1⁄2-story store named Colton and Company, featuring a large expanse of glass block.

[14] Additionally, Donaldson's updated their marketing plan, closed their budget store, and relocated from the old Golden Rule building to a newly constructed St. Paul store under the guidance of president Charles B. James II in 1980.

[15] Allied Stores promoted Charles B. James II to their Joske's division in 1981, and appointed 37 year old William Murray as president of Donaldson's.

[19] The vacated Donaldson's store complex, which comprised half a city block, along with the adjacent Northwestern National Bank Building, burned in the 1982 Thanksgiving Day Fire[20] as a result of arson.

[23] The sites were replaced and are currently occupied by Gaviidae Common on the Donaldson's tract, and Wells Fargo Center (the successor to Northwestern National Bank/Norwest) on the bank property.

[32] In cost cutting moves, it announced that the flagship store in downtown Minneapolis would close in May 1992 (10 years after opening);[33] and the store in St. Paul would close in July 1992 (12 years after opening)[34] Bergner emerged from bankruptcy in August 1993, and took Carson's name.

In a strategic move, Dayton Hudson opened the first local outlets of its moderate Mervyn's chain at these locations, preventing potential competitors who had little or no local presence, such as Nordstrom from acquiring prime mall sites.

By 2004, after the Dayton's stores had been renamed Marshall Field's and, ultimately, sold by their owner Target Corporation, new owner May Department Stores also acquired the 9 Twin Cities Mervyn's locations—all promptly shuttered—and assumed responsibility for disposing of the real estate.

Openings from the show's later seasons deleted most of this footage, but the hat-toss itself remained part of the credits for the entire run of the series.

A statue of Moore was commissioned by the TV Land channel and now stands in front of the entrance to the former Dayton's across the street.