Video Reveals 'Abandoned' Buildings Once Home to Burger King and McDonald's

Every one of us remembers stores and restaurants that have closed forever, leaving behind buildings that have either remained abandoned over the years or transformed into something new.

Now, a viral series of videos on TikTok have captured how some of those buildings have continued to remain empty and abandoned, and how some of them have undergone complete makeovers.

Gavin Ethridge from Philadelphia runs the @rundownbuildings TikTok and Instagram accounts, charting the progress of empty commercial and residential buildings across America, and Canada.

One of his most popular videos, showing the deterioration of a former Jack in the Box location in Houston, Texas, shows it as a thriving business in 2007, empty by 2017, and now "abandoned" in 2022.

And a McDonald's in Ontario, Canada, looked bustling in 2009, but by 2022 it was "abandoned and forgotten," as the clip's caption states, with the golden arches and all other branding removed from the building.

All that remains of its former life is the distinctive mansard roof design of the building. "Doesn't even look like the same place," the caption said.

Former video rental giant Blockbuster, which now only has one location left, in Bend, Oregon, once had an outlet in San Jose, California. A clip shows how that store changed over the years, starting in 2011, before eventually being turned into a T-Mobile shop in 2015, with a Panda Express and Chipotle added by 2022.

Posted this week, a clip shows a Taco Bell in Houston, Texas, in 2007, which closed by 2017, the video caption said, before being turned into a bar by 2022.

A Chuck E. Cheese, in Lima, Ohio, operated in 2011, but was gone by 2022, with the brand's iconic signage removed from the building and billboards.

A Burger King in Portland, Oregon, once looked vibrant and inviting in 2009, but a decade later it had closed. A fence had been put up around the building, now devoid of branding, but covered in graffiti. By 2022, the façade had changed little, save for more graffiti.

A Toys R Us, in Cerritos, California, was up and running in 2015, but there were signs of what was to come—literally—with a "going out of business" banner on the side. By 2022, the video claims it has been turned into an Amazon facility.

Ethridge told Newsweek what first piqued his interest in showcasing what happened to buildings once their businesses closed, saying: "One day I was looking at my own house on Google Maps and I saw me and my grandma walking down the street! I instantly got hit with nostalgia and an unexplainable calm feeling as I was able to reminisce to a time I thought I forgot about."

The 19-year-old uses Google Maps to track each location's change over time. "I started posting short videos of houses transitioning from lively to abandoned," he said. "I wanted to create the same nostalgic and youthful feelings I experienced, and give people a deep dive into the devastating housing crisis that isn't talked enough about in the media.

"This quickly transitioned to me doing videos on malls, stores, and schools. No matter where we are in the world, we can find unity in our buildings, our schools, and especially our own houses."

"Before I started this account, I myself had no idea about the state of our buildings, especially in places like Michigan, Baltimore, and Chicago," Ethridge said. "You can go to almost any street on Detroit and find an abandoned or boarded up house, sometimes almost entire blocks."

Ethridge said the response to his clips has been resounding. "I've got thousands of comments of people saying how they never really thought about an issue like this," he said. "I've got hundreds of comments saying my account has inspired people to research and donate to different house rebuilding nonprofits."

Each video takes him roughly 30 minutes to make, as he claimed residential properties were his favorite to capture.

"It's always so bittersweet to see the families outside of the buildings before they are either abandoned or torn down. To know a life was being lived there and it was once a place someone called home is heartbreaking," he said.

And there was one silver lining for a brand popular from his childhood, which is now making a comeback. "My favorite videos so far are the Toys R US videos because that store played a big role in my childhood," he said. "They are actually coming back and going to be in every Macy's which makes the videos less sad now!"

The toy brand recently announced it was "returning nationwide," with some locations inside Macy's opening this month, a press release said.

"By mid-October we'll be in every Macy's—that means hundreds of locations! We're also bringing more than 10 flagship stores to life in major U.S. cities including Atlanta, Chicago, Honolulu, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, and San Francisco," the company confirmed.

Commenting on one of the most popular videos, user Get pugged said: "It's lowkey kinda sad."

Referencing Burger King, Lollipop Giold pointed out: "99 cent kids meal? That's how you know it was forever ago."

Kassie wrote: "Sad to see childhood places going out of business."

Ryan Regis simply said: "Nostalgia."

"I miss how Taco Bell and McDonald's and Burger King used to look so fun and colorful," @notdolo._ added.

The COVID-19 pandemic saw numerous businesses close, and go out of business, all over the world.

In America, a survey of small businesses by the U.S. Census Bureau found 43.9 percent of respondents claimed the pandemic had a "moderate negative effect" on their company.

As of April 2022, some 1.4 percent of respondents admitted to permanently closing a location to due to the effects of the pandemic.