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75 Buildings That Changed Their Purpose But Not Their Appearance, And The Results Are Hilarious
Most buildings are built to last, often for decades and sometimes even centuries. But the people living in them or the businesses operating there don’t always stick around that long. So over time, plenty of places get repurposed and end up taking on a completely different role than they were originally designed for.
This can lead to some pretty unexpected and often hilarious transformations. A former bank might become a McDonald’s, while an old bowling alley could end up as a thrift store. We’ve rounded up some of the best examples below. Scroll down to check them out.
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#1
Señior Colonel
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#2
Walgreens That Used To Be A Historic Bank. Chicago, IL
#3
Blockbuster Got Converted To A Book Store
#4
My House Used To Be A Police Station And My Bathroom Is An Old Jail Cell, The Original Window Is Still In Place
#5
My College Used To Be A Shopping Mall
#6
One Of Our Local Libraries Moved Into An Old Marsh Supermarket
#7
This Trader Joe's In Media, Pennsylvania, Used To Be An Armoury For The Pennsylvania National Guard
That’s all I yam 2 months ago (edited)
It's great Trader Joe's saved the building structure - it's beautiful!
#8
My Apartment Building Used To Be A School
#9
A Former Cricket Wireless Is Now A Chicken Restaurant
#10
Church In My Local Town Converted Into A Nightclub
#11
This Thrift Store Used To Be A Bowling Alley
#12
This Starbucks Drive-Thru In An Old Car Wash
#13
Gay Bar In Cedar Rapids Used To Be A McDonald's
Gingersnap In Iowa 2 months ago
Yes, indeed it is and I've been to the drag shows there. It's a great club.
#14
Apple Store In An Old Theatre, Los Angeles
#15
The Subway I Went To Today Used To Be A Bank. Instead Of Removing The Vault They Just Added More Seating Inside
#16
This Medical Facility Totally Used To Be A Pizza Hut
#17
Old Mall Turned Into College Building. Stores Were Converted Into Classrooms
#18
Former Target Turned Into A Walmart, They Painted The Target Orbs Yellow Instead Of Removing Them
#19
An Orthodontist's Office Used To Be A Blockbuster [hinesville, GA]
#20
A Church Converted To A Grocery Store
#21
Former Bank, Now KFC. Owners Call It The Crystal Bucket. (Corning, NY Area)
#22
Little Caesar's Pizza In A Former Sonic Drive-In; Location Unknown
#23
A Bank Converted To Mcdonalds
#24
This Sports Bar Used To Be A Hollywood Video Store. They Reused Parts Of The Original Sign
Elladine DesIsles 2 months ago
How is this not a gay bar? There's been a Woody's in my neighbourhood since 1989, one of Toronto's best known gay bars, and it isn't "Big Woody's"!
#25
The Owners Ended Their Quiznos Franchise But Wanted To Run A Sandwich Shop Still
#26
KFC Turned Into A Jamba Juice
Jeff Edmonds 2 months ago
Haha! I recognize this one. It's in Granada Hills on Chatsworth west of Zelzah. Too funny!
#27
Former Taco Bell, Louisville, KY
#28
Former Hot Topic Now Veterans Museum Denton, TX
#29
Urban Krag Climbing Center, Dayton Oh
#31
This Former Pizza Hut Got Turned Into A Home! The Owners Even Added A Garage And Lawn!
#32
Taco Bell Turned Into Law Offices
#34
Old Toysrus Is Now The Biggest Liquor Store I’ve Ever Seen! Includes A Bar. Fun For Kids Turned Fun For Adults. (Omaha, Ne)
#35
It’s Time To Get Spooky
#36
This "Starbucks" With Extra Pickup Lanes. So Convenient
#37
Sears Store At My Mall Was Turned Into A Fake Mega Church For A TV Show
#38
Former Wal-Mart Now Board Of Education
#39
Former Pizza Hut - Now La Piñata Mexican Grill, Childersburg Alabama
Upstaged75 2 months ago
What used to be the Pizza Hut everyone went to when I was a kid is now a Peruvian chicken place. It's had several other restaurants in there too before that one.
#40
Jay's Liquor In Lakeland, FL (Former Blockbuster)
Vivian McBride 2 months ago
Weirdly, I want to try the Subway Nails. (We alys get a kick out of the combination of businesses in strip malls.)
#41
Former Pizza Hut Now An Asian Vegan Restaurant (Pinellas Park, FL)
KingJalopy 2 months ago
IUTBAPH - n case you're wondering why I keep saying this there's a cool podcast/book thingy or something about places that used to be a pizza hut and how the shape is so recognizable it's basically universal
#42
CVS Pharmacy Used To Be A Theatre, East Los Angeles, CA
#44
Value Village, Edmonton, Ab
#45
So Why Does A Hair Salon Need Three Drive-Through Lanes? (Former Bank)
#46
Former KFC, Broken Arrow, Ok
#47
Former Toys-R-Us, Now Sdf. Indianapolis, In
Bill Swallow 2 months ago
That which we call an IKEA would by any other name still serve Swedish Meatballs in labyrinthine floor plans.
#48
Reused Krispy Kreme Sign Now Kroger Gas Station (Down The Street Is A Really Old Reused Pizza Hut Sign)
#50
A Former Burger King Listed Online As A Townhouse
#51
Spirit Halloween - Was Fraser Health Covid-19 Vaccination Clinic Until Last Week, Formerly Best Buy - Surrey, Bc
Jason Romine 2 months ago
British website doesn't realize every vacant big box store in North America eventually has a turn at being a seasonal Spirit Halloween store.
#53
"Chick & Burger" In A Former Chick-Fil-A At The Former Virginia Center Commons Mall
#54
Yes, You Were Always A Wireless Store
#55
I Coulda Swore This Used To Be A... Krispy Kreme? Naahhh
Beak Hookage 2 months ago
Are krispy kreme donuts just as horrifically over-priced in America? Here in Australia they're like f*****g $8 and they're not even that good!
#56
A Former Ryan's Buffet Repurposed As A Used Car Dealership - Martinez, Georgia
#58
Pretzelmaker, Now Avis/Budget Rental (North Little Rock, AR)
#61
Former Walgreens Is Now A Planet Fitness
#62
Here's A Good Find
DeoManus Argentem 2 months ago
Just looks like a Walmart "supercenter" converted to a Walmart grocery store?
#64
A Former A&p Grocery Store Is Now A Store For "Heavy Duty Truck & Trailer Parts" - Gary, Indiana
Elwood Schwartz (it/that) 2 months ago
Our former A&P has been the home of the city's housing authority for at least 30 years. Right across from the projects.
#65
Ihop Now An International House Of Prayer
#66
Former CVS Now An Uber
#68
Gresham, Or - This Was Once A Gas Station And Then A Used Car Lot Before Becoming A Jimmy John’s
#69
This Bp In Anderson Used To Be The Walgreens
Multa Nocte (she/her 8647) 2 months ago
If you hover your cursor over this photo, the AI generated description is: "A green and yellow QuikCheck store, a building pretending to be something else, resembling a lemon with a gas station nearby." 🙄
#71
This Mexican Restaurant In Chesterfield Used To Be A Pizza Hut
#73
Former Arby’s In Norfolk, Virginia
#75
Former Kroger Parkersburg WV
Multa Nocte (she/her 8647) 2 months ago
My grandparents on my father's side used to live in Parkersburg. It has really fallen apart over the years. It was a lovely little town many years ago.
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Chewie Baron 2 months ago
You should see the amount of banks that got turned into wine bars here in the UK. Now it’s former pubs that are being converted.
Debby Keir 2 months ago
Wetherspoons never build new - they take some incredibly run down or odd building and turn it into a bar/restaurant.
Load More Replies... Chewie Baron 2 months ago
You should see the amount of banks that got turned into wine bars here in the UK. Now it’s former pubs that are being converted.
Debby Keir 2 months ago
Wetherspoons never build new - they take some incredibly run down or odd building and turn it into a bar/restaurant.
Load More Replies... 
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