Pick Pockets Deli: Two Repurposed Yum! Brands Buildings

For some odd reason, Pick Pockets Deli, a small deli chain in Rhode Island and Eastern Connecticut with 4 total locations, has 2 restaurants that were formerly Yum! Brands (or Pepsico) restaurants. The other 2 locations, located in North Providence and Middletown, Rhode Island, are located in plazas. Today we'll be looking at both of these obvious repurposed restaurants, and I'll try to put in some "history" while talking about them. Let's get started!

LOCATION 1: GROTON, CT

Towards the southern terminus of Route 12, next to the Groton Square Shopping Center, lies our first location of interest.This location is Pick Pockets first and only restaurant in Connecticut. Now I can't confirm if this was a Pizza Hut or not, but the exterior is exactly like an old Pizza Hut, without a rooftop. If this was a Pizza Hut, it hasn't been a Pizza Hut in a long time. Even before Pick Pockets was there, not one, but two restaurants had the space over time. First was Russell's Ribs, which was in the building up until around 2012 (I'm unsure when Russell's opened) Then in 2013, The Bayou Smokehouse opened up, where it lasted until around 2018, when Pick Pockets opened.

Now I do have a bit of a theory to why this was definitely a Pizza Hut. Look at Groton's Former Pizza Hut, This doesn't look like it was initially a Pizza Hut. In fact, it looks pretty similar to an older Taco Bell. The Taco Bell in Groton (Coincidentally across the street from Pick Pockets), was an '80s-'90s build that got a remodel by 2011. This means that Taco Bell possibly had to build a new location in the '80s or '90s after Pizza Hut relocated to their space. Hey, who knows? I'm probably just making stuff up. Oh well, let's got to the next location, and to do that, we're crossing the state line.

LOCATION 2: WESTERLY, RI

By the early 2010's Yum! Brands had no presence left in the Western Rhode Island town of Westerly. Taco Bell closed by 2010, and was demolished for a bank, Pizza Hut closed in 2012, and was demolished for Providence Coal Fired Pizza, and right next door to Pizza Hut was KFC, which Pick Pockets had moved into by 2012. Now Westerly residents have to drive to Groton if they have a craving for Colonel and Chalupas.

As for KFC itself, it was a 2000's build, but I'm not sure if was an original build or a renovation, as KFC phased out most of their older mansard-style locations in the early to mid-2000's. If it was an original build, it's likely that KFC lasted less than a decade in Westerly. As for Pick Pockets itself, I can't confirm if they did much to it on the inside, as I'm not too familiar with 2000's-style KFC interiors. However, the exterior remains almost completely untouched besides the changed signage.

To me, seeing repurposed fast food buildings is really cool, because even if a certain design is eliminated by a chain, you know that they still exist at a local Deli or Chinese restaurant.

That's it for this one! I'll see you guys tomorrow for another blog!

-Simpsonfan311