It made me kinda happy that they’re still keeping up the landscape at the first location. I’m glad you don’t censor out homeless camps or drug paraphernalia you come across. This is the reality as much as the closed down retail locations. Did you look into KFC in other countries? In Japan it’s a weird thing where they dress up the Colonel as Santa and there are waiting lists to order fancy Christmas meals from KFC. In wealthy Gulf countries like Kuwait, American fast food is so successful that they’re having a major health crisis with diabetes and other related illnesses.
KFC may be floundering in North America but it's still big elsewhere in the world. It's these foreign markets that have been keeping the name afloat in 2nd place, most likely by virtue of its prominent branding. Pizza Hut is also in that state by the looks of it. Ironically the other top fast food chains in the US outside McDonald's and maybe Burger King never gained much of a foothold in these foreign markets one way or another.
Man this totally reminds me of when i explored this old abandoned Burger King when i was a kid. I remember sneaking out at like 2am and crawling through the drive thru window to get in. When i was inside i went to the play area where i actually had a birthday party one year and the only thing that was left were a bunch of those plastic balls from the pit lying around and old promotion papers scattered everywhere. It was cool . If i had filmed it back then it would have made for a great video .
I remember liking KFC as a kid, but every time I have ever had it in my adult life it has been terrible and I just end up tossing it. Either the KFC's around me really suck(possible as their staff is generally some of the most miserable fast food employees I ever see), kid me had terrible taste(likely) or KFC has gone downhill(also probable). Maybe it's a problem with Yum Brands... as I find Pizza Hut and Taco Bell equally awful.
Mine suck around here in Toronto too, also pretty much every KFC in Canada I've been to in the last... 25ish years has been sub-par. I don't go, only rarely when someone buys it for a family shindig then I quietly eat a piece and sigh a sad sigh for my childhood memories of awesome chicken lol.
Mine is very dirty inside and the food is majorly greasy. I rather go to the supermarket from fried chicken or to the BBQ place down the road if I want to spend a bit of money.
True. The Orlando.gov area KFCs are ghetto AF 🐓. I contacted the KFC website about 1 Orlando FL location. The "mgr" & I had a huge spat. The staff, 830pm was lazy, inept poorly trained.
KFC could come back BIG if they went back to their older recipe chicken, it used to be good! But I'm sure some moron found a way to save a few cents using inferior ingredients...
Pretty sure Japan probably counts for a huge chunk of that figure about KFC being the second-largest restaurant chain in the world. KFCs are EVERYWHERE over here, and are thriving, to boot -- largely because in the 1970s, they positioned themselves as the best place to go to get Christmas dinner, and they have since become THE traditional place to go for Christmas in Japan. Practically the whole country buys KFC around the holidays, with KFC offering premium Christmas dinner packages that cost upwards of $50 or more, which you have to reserve 2 weeks in advance. Japanese KFCs also are just... better than American KFCs in general. Like, the quality of the food is considerably better, the menu is much more expansive, and the facilities are unsurprisingly WAY cleaner. And there are usually life-sized (albeit shorter than expected) Colonel Sanders statues outside of each location. Japanese KFC is awesome. ;)
Really liked this video. There is a KFC near me at Via Linda and Frank Lloyd Wright Blvd. that went under not far from a Burger King that went under...and so the story goes. You are in no way exploiting the homeless. You are drawing attention to the fact that we have as many as we do in the Phoenix metropolitan area (over 10,000) and, perhaps, someone will do something about it, regardless how big or small. Also, absolutely love your choice of music for this. Keep on making these so I can see what's happening in the Valley without leaving home when it's 107F outside.
I absolutely agree. I remember seeing the comment where he was accused of exploiting the homeless. It was clear whoever wrote it doesn’t know what “exploiting” means.
Ni e work! We need to pay attention and broaden & expand our visual camp. It is sad but also a wake up call. As when I work in films, sometimes we get negative critiques for showing a reality. But all sides of life need to be witnessed. Not all is sweet nor bitter. But all needs to be shared. Thanks for your great work.!
I APPLAUD you for showing these instances of homelessness. This NEEDS to be seen. There's A Walgreens about a mile from my house, and I had to go there a couple of months ago for a drive-thru COVID test. Once done, I had to round the building to leave, and I saw several tents set up behind the drugstore, and people moving in and out of them. No one had even known they were there until I found them.
The clear blue sky is nice, though as you said it's hot, as I remember living in NE Phoenix in 1976. Not a big fan of fast food, so other than seeing KFC locations here in SE Florida, where it showers a lot in summer, I can't help you with their locations situation. I do sympathize with the homeless and housing situation, being a problem for housing being built over the years, in the 1990's, after my Father died, and being a disabled veteran, my Mother and I struggled financially. While we kept our living place, and somewhat of a used car, when she passed away just before 2000, I had to move to an efficiency apartment in the area, with just SSD and VA disability at the time. Thanks for your interesting videos and reminiscening about living in Phoenix, when it was much smaller. I was living and working nearby where the reporter was car bombed in 1976.
In Little Rock, AR, we have 1 KFC left. Yet, so many Popeyes. In the 90's, the KFC'S began to disappear. It really was odd. Back in the 80's we had about 10 or 12 locations. Then in the 90's they started closing locations, or in some cases, make those weird hybrid locations. Ex. Taco bell/ KFC, or Pizza Hut/ KFC. Then they had the odd gas station locations, sometimes hybrids. Now just 1 location. It had burned to the ground, and they rebuilt it, finishing just last year. It really is bizarre, that so many are gone.
None of the KFC’s have closed (yet), but one of the locations in my area has gone very downhill. Last time I went there, the register was broken (they took orders on sheets of paper) and they only had 2 employees.
I probably haven’t eaten there since it was Kentucky Fried Chicken, and I used to love it. I’m not much into fast food anymore, personally, but it’s still sad to me to see so many of my favorite childhood places disappearing. What’s great about your videos is how nostalgic you are as well, so I don’t feel quite so alone in that, if that makes sense? Anyway, great video and hope you all are staying safe in AZ.
your comments on placing affordable housing on the land of closed restaurants (or even re-purposing the existing building) is like one of the best i've heard.
Even here in Hawaii which is still big on KFC has had a few locations close over the years. One place is now a Jolliebees a Filipino fast food restaurant that also sells fried chicken.
I don’t see anything wrong with you bringing the homeless issue to light. People just don’t want to accept that one day it could easily be them. Especially in these crazy times. I have always liked KFC. Never had a bad experience whatsoever. That stinks that they’re closing because I always thought you got a lot of good food at a fair price.
What's the name of the songs in this video big dog? Love em!! Love your content. Keep the unique soundtracks!👍🏽👏🏽 thanks for filming Papago Plaza. Wish u would of filmed "Los Arcos Mall". I remember going their as a kid in 1998 1999.
The first location is becoming a Starbucks now. I'm glad it didn't take so long to get someone into that one other than the second one that has been like that for years.
As a kid I loved the biscuits and coleslaw - but I haven’t had it in maybe 25 years? Sometimes I catch their ads and it looks good, but its just not something I eat. Loving the content, thank you for continuing to post.
As soon as I clicked on the video, I knew what location was going to be first. I used to shop at the Safeway across the street from that KFC in Gilbert all the time. That KFC always got my orders wrong so I stopped going there. One time, they told me they ran out of chicken...
KFC seems to be doing much better in Canada. Locations around me have been recently renovated or moved to a whole new and better location. A couple new stores have opened as well. I have also noticed that most of their food has gotten better over the last 5 years except their chicken pieces which just keep getting worse somehow. Their other menu items are great though!
I recently took a temp job for a few days, and they brought in some KFC for lunch. It was tasty, but I prefer their chicken pot pie. Oooooh, so good. I agree, homelessness is a huge problem, especially here in Austin. On any given street corner, you'll see tent cities at the underpasses, and people with a cardboard sign where traffic is congested because of 5 o'clock rush hour. I don't have a solution, but for some of them, they don't want to be helped. They want cash for drugs or alcohol.
6:25 Family Dollar indicates a lower income neighborhood, I wouldn't have had open a restaurant there. You just keep on showing every thing you see. I believe Chic-fil-a is satisfying our chicken urges.
We had one location that got vacated by KFC turned into a Jollibee...and one across from a shopping center become a Walgreens. (the latter one used to be a Tower Records store.)
This was fun to watch because my local KFC just got done with a whole store renovation. I dunno if it'll help them, but at least the outside looks nice and fresh. Not sure if I'll bother going inside now that they've finished the remodel, but the last time I ventured in there everything looked so grimy, it was not a pleasant sight.
I watched this video right after riding my bike down to a Happy Garden Chinese in Lamar CO for some curbside. Looking at this place, it too looked like a former KFC at one time. I don't think there's another KFC any where in that town either. Other infamous former structures are long abandoned, Long John Silver's. There's one in Hereford TX that seems to have been sitting unused off the US-60 for an until number of years. I like the food, but out here in beef country, seafood of any type is in for a fight.
One closed down in my town. They tore it down and replaced it with a Freddy’s. We still have two though. One close to the college and another on the other side of town. I can’t remember the last time I ate at one. I think it was one time last year.
There was a KFC / Taco Bell combo really close to my work. I only went in there a few times and it seemed like it was always dirty / sticky. Like the workers never cleaned or the cleaner residue just wasn't ever washed away. I stopped going one day when there was a fly in my cup from the soda dispenser. A few weeks later, the health department shut the place down and its been sitting empty for a year plus since. =/ Theres another KFC near me that is much cleaner and I've gone just for the Cheetos and donut sandwiches when they had those and to try the MTN Dew Sweet Lightning. But otherwise I don't really care for the KFC flavoring style of their chicken.
We need covered drive thru locations here in Florida. Not only is it painfully hot and absurdly sunny, we also have very heavy daily afternoon summer thunderstorms.
I haven’t had KFC in ages. The only one in my hometown was shut down by the county health department about five or six years ago because of the awful sanitation in the kitchen. I did love eating their food as a kid though but my preference for takeout fried chicken has largely shifter towards Albertson’s before then.
30+ years ago I also went through a drive through backwards. My car was a 1967 MGB-GT ,,,,,,right hand drive! Also, back in the 1960s, my grandfathers sister was driving out west and went to a KFC for lunch. Ole Col. sanders was working that day in that location. He did this for many years after selling the company. Also my uncle the police Sgt. from Columbus personally knew Dave Thomas of Wendy's fame. And my uncle was asked by Dave if he wanted in on the company,,,he declined.
KFC still open here but a few Pizza Huts have closed. But then again it is NY there are many mom and pop pizzerias that are awesome. The one Pizza Hut I want to get into is haunted and want to see what's up now that its closed.
Pizza Hut is going to suffer badly from one of its biggest franchisers declaring bankruptcy. Particularly in the northeastern United States, the competition in the pizza business is FIERCE, so if Pizza Hut exits a local market it'll be very difficult for them to get back in later.
I remember (70s and 80s) when Kentucky Fried Chicken was a part of Gino's. Gino's was so good, loved their cheeseburgers and my mom would always get the Giant.
The first KFC franchise pictured in this excellent episode operated as a combined KFC and A&W restaurant for some time and was in operation from 2001 until Q1 2019. The building was then leased to a Scottsdale-based restaurant investment group and was slated to anchor a new Starbucks franchise named "Val Vista and Elliot". However, this may have fallen through (COVID-19?) as the building was put up for lease again on May 27, 2020, and is still available for lease as of today.
Agree with you. I don't know any Chick-fil-a in my area that doesn't have long lines at the drive thru nearly all day, while the local KFC never has more than one car in the drive-thru. RIP Colonel Harlan Sanders.
And chick fil a is not even good or worth it. I dont get why people love chickfila. I let my 14 yr old son try chickfila a couple weeks ago because of all the hype he heard. He was very disappointed. I said, I told you so, I told you its not good, but I dont think he was expecting to be so dissapointed.
I'm in SoCal and I feel KFCs are hard to find in general if you look on a wide scale. I'm fortunate to have 2 near me (the hot wings have been a fav of mine since I was a kid). And I agree with you showing reality. I think it's one of the points of urbex and mall content -- there's a realness to these places just left abandoned and dying, and people shouldn't ignore it. They carry their history and memories but they also have their current state and being. These derelict buildings def could be of better use like for housing as you said.
I don't visit fast food restaurants that often but I like KFC. The fact that they are number 2 directly behind Mc Donald's was new to me. Best reagrds from the South of Germany.
1) I laughed way too hard at driving the opposite way through the drive-thru. That was too good! XD 2) We have a few KFCs around, but I do worry about them shutting down if things start to go south for the company. Two of them are in areas that offer little in terms of retail, and one of them have the buffet option which I know has to be suffering due to the pandemic. The third is in a bit better spot - it's on one of the most prominent highways in our area - but there's a ton of other restaurant choices in the same area, so it does face a lot more competition. I do hope they all survive, however. While I do tend to enjoy Popeye's a bit more than KFC nowadays, KFC is far closer to my house and are far easier to get to (versus the two Popeye's locations we have, which one is very hard to get into due to road construction and the other is on a dangerous triangle-shaped intersection that we want to avoid at all costs, if we can help it).
The former KFC in my neighborhood is now a payday loans place. There was another nearby on a major commercial street that is just vacant. The only local location remaining (unless there is something out in the far suburbs) is in a Downtown food court.
Also like to add that Id keep the remnants of the homeless in there. Let people know that exploring places like this could lead to meeting someone there, and sometimes those people dont want you there. As long as you're not filming actual people Im ok with it.
Interesting. I've never seen an abandoned KFC in Colorado. In fact, in the last year I've seen two locations torn down and replaced with new buildings, pandemic and all. We also have those hybrid stores that are both KFC and A&W; do they have those in Arizona? I don't eat there anymore because every time I go, I get an upset stomach. It doesn't help that I worked there in the 90's in what was a brand new building but the hygiene was seriously lax. No one cared and our store was always slam busy.
That first location is a fairly recent closure as it closed within the past year. I ate there quite a few times over the years. It used to be paired with an A&W sometime in the early 2000s.
Someone else posted a comment saying that location was planned to be converted into a Starbucks franchise in the near future, but apparently the pandemic caused those plans to be aborted and the building to go back on the market as a result.
We still have one of those all in one KFC/Taco Bells in our town. They closed for a week to upgrade the kitchen but they are still slow as hell. Id still hate for it to go out because besides that and McDonalds all we have are like 9 pizza places for a town of about 6000 people.
It is important to show the evidence of homelessness because those folks slip through the cracks and are neglected and nobody should be without shelter
a 16 piece meal at the KFCs in my state is $65.99 O_O i do not know how they are still in business up here . they do have a pretty big market over seas especially in China
I used to volunteer my spare time in Chicago trying to get people off the street. In the 3 years I did that we got a total of 4 people to commit to entering a halfway house and none ended up staying. People don't realize that the overwhelming majority of homeless want to be on the street. They don't realize that they can make $100 a day in a city like Chicago to feed whatever habits they have. Society isn't failing these people. They failed themselves and we enable it.
The 2nd one on Main has been closed for a very long time. I do believe it was a taco place for a while. In high school I worked at the restaurant across the street that had the big neon sign, too bad its just a dirt field now.
I believe KFC has had some cases where franchisees who owned multiple locations went under. I believe that's what happened with some of them in Scottsdale.
The only KFC that closed near here was because the building was falling apart, literally. Australia sings the "Fast Food Rockers-Fast Food Song" everyday!
Pizza Hut could be next with store closures. One of their biggest franchise groups, NPC International, recently filed for bankruptcy. Even before that, NPC has been closing small town locations or closing several stores in bigger cities, and keeping only a few open with just carryout or delivery.
It’s crazy that the second KFC on this video is painted like that. Because there was a KFC on 35th Ave & Camelback in Phoenix that after it closed (in 2010) it was painted like that but it still abandoned, but that KFC was shared with A&W.
I personally wonder if both of those locations were planned Taco Bell conversions that didn't work out for some reason. The paint job leans toward them intending to become Taco Bell...
Im sure someone else in the comments has already pointed this out. KFC does really well in other countries, specifically asia. it's even a holiday tradition in japan to get KFC during christmas. unfortunately it's losing a lot of footing in the US and i wouldnt be surprised if it goes under here but stays alive elsewhere.
It's weird to see an empty KFC, in my area (Detroit suburbs) they do a lot of business or at least they're doing more because of the pandemic. I've seen their drive thru with 10 cars deep during the workweek sometimes :I Maybe it's different depending on what part of the country you live in
I have never been a fan of KFC since we got Popeyes in this area, but in my town we only have KFC. There are two stores here and they are both hit and miss as to quality and getting the order right. The one nearest my home in recent months have greatly improved and we get food there sometimes. The mashed potatoes and gravy used to be real good, but not nearly as good anymore and I am old enough poor childhood taste accounts for this. Overall I think the quality of KFC and Pizza Hut both seem inferior to Taco Bell, but we have a very well run Taco Bell franchise here.
I think alot has to do with their menu not having many options also their mac and cheese tastes more like mac and butter and prices keep going up while the portions seem to get smaller
Exactly...even worse in a place where in the continental US it's cheaper they add a few dollars to the price. Like for example it's $5 in the mainland and $8 in Hawaii. Don't get me started on promos that don't even happen here because that's even more infuriating.
It made me kinda happy that they’re still keeping up the landscape at the first location. I’m glad you don’t censor out homeless camps or drug paraphernalia you come across. This is the reality as much as the closed down retail locations.
Did you look into KFC in other countries? In Japan it’s a weird thing where they dress up the Colonel as Santa and there are waiting lists to order fancy Christmas meals from KFC. In wealthy Gulf countries like Kuwait, American fast food is so successful that they’re having a major health crisis with diabetes and other related illnesses.
Some marketing guy at KFC in Japan promulgated the idea that Americans eat KFC at Christmas. So you'll see the Colonel dressed up as Santa there.
KFC may be floundering in North America but it's still big elsewhere in the world. It's these foreign markets that have been keeping the name afloat in 2nd place, most likely by virtue of its prominent branding. Pizza Hut is also in that state by the looks of it. Ironically the other top fast food chains in the US outside McDonald's and maybe Burger King never gained much of a foothold in these foreign markets one way or another.
Watching you drive the wrong way down the drive-thru was oddly satisfying.
Man this totally reminds me of when i explored this old abandoned Burger King when i was a kid. I remember sneaking out at like 2am and crawling through the drive thru window to get in. When i was inside i went to the play area where i actually had a birthday party one year and the only thing that was left were a bunch of those plastic balls from the pit lying around and old promotion papers scattered everywhere. It was cool . If i had filmed it back then it would have made for a great video .
8:40 Trash, drugs, and a hidden life behind closed buildings. It shows the true city life. Great videos. Keep it up.
I remember liking KFC as a kid, but every time I have ever had it in my adult life it has been terrible and I just end up tossing it.
Either the KFC's around me really suck(possible as their staff is generally some of the most miserable fast food employees I ever see), kid me had terrible taste(likely) or KFC has gone downhill(also probable).
Maybe it's a problem with Yum Brands... as I find Pizza Hut and Taco Bell equally awful.
Mine suck around here in Toronto too, also pretty much every KFC in Canada I've been to in the last... 25ish years has been sub-par. I don't go, only rarely when someone buys it for a family shindig then I quietly eat a piece and sigh a sad sigh for my childhood memories of awesome chicken lol.
Mine is very dirty inside and the food is majorly greasy. I rather go to the supermarket from fried chicken or to the BBQ place down the road if I want to spend a bit of money.
Pretty sure they changed the oils and such with all the new laws in the mid 2000s so it doesn't taste as good anymore.
shift in ingredients and frying oils to cut out trans fat.
True. The Orlando.gov area KFCs are ghetto AF 🐓. I contacted the KFC website about 1 Orlando FL location. The "mgr" & I had a huge spat. The staff, 830pm was lazy, inept poorly trained.
KFC could come back BIG if they went back to their older recipe chicken, it used to be good! But I'm sure some moron found a way to save a few cents using inferior ingredients...
It did seem like it used to be way better... but I chocked that up to nostalgia.
KFC is starting to convert to green 🍗 "nuggets" . Ummm no... 🤦♂️
Not to mention bringing back potato wedges.
Those are much better than the new french fries they have
And bigger pieces
@@DavidLLambertmobile hm
Pretty sure Japan probably counts for a huge chunk of that figure about KFC being the second-largest restaurant chain in the world. KFCs are EVERYWHERE over here, and are thriving, to boot -- largely because in the 1970s, they positioned themselves as the best place to go to get Christmas dinner, and they have since become THE traditional place to go for Christmas in Japan. Practically the whole country buys KFC around the holidays, with KFC offering premium Christmas dinner packages that cost upwards of $50 or more, which you have to reserve 2 weeks in advance.
Japanese KFCs also are just... better than American KFCs in general. Like, the quality of the food is considerably better, the menu is much more expansive, and the facilities are unsurprisingly WAY cleaner. And there are usually life-sized (albeit shorter than expected) Colonel Sanders statues outside of each location.
Japanese KFC is awesome. ;)
Really liked this video. There is a KFC near me at Via Linda and Frank Lloyd Wright Blvd. that went under not far from a Burger King that went under...and so the story goes. You are in no way exploiting the homeless. You are drawing attention to the fact that we have as many as we do in the Phoenix metropolitan area (over 10,000) and, perhaps, someone will do something about it, regardless how big or small. Also, absolutely love your choice of music for this. Keep on making these so I can see what's happening in the Valley without leaving home when it's 107F outside.
I absolutely agree. I remember seeing the comment where he was accused of exploiting the homeless. It was clear whoever wrote it doesn’t know what “exploiting” means.
@@danieldaniels7571 I didn't understand that, either. He's not exploiting anyone.
I'd rather visit an abandoned KFC than an open one
lol
True chicfila and canes killed all kfc and churches
Pretty much. The abandoned locations are usually cleaner.
🤣
@@jameshill3463 yeah ,and chick fil a sucks and we've never had canes. Much rather have kfc over chick fil a any day
Ni e work! We need to pay attention and broaden & expand our visual camp. It is sad but also a wake up call. As when I work in films, sometimes we get negative critiques for showing a reality. But all sides of life need to be witnessed. Not all is sweet nor bitter. But all needs to be shared. Thanks for your great work.!
I APPLAUD you for showing these instances of homelessness. This NEEDS to be seen. There's A Walgreens about a mile from my house, and I had to go there a couple of months ago for a drive-thru COVID test. Once done, I had to round the building to leave, and I saw several tents set up behind the drugstore, and people moving in and out of them. No one had even known they were there until I found them.
The clear blue sky is nice, though as
you said it's hot, as I remember living
in NE Phoenix in 1976. Not a big fan
of fast food, so other than seeing KFC
locations here in SE Florida, where it
showers a lot in summer, I can't help
you with their locations situation.
I do sympathize with the homeless and
housing situation, being a problem for
housing being built over the years, in
the 1990's, after my Father died, and
being a disabled veteran, my Mother
and I struggled financially. While we
kept our living place, and somewhat
of a used car, when she passed away
just before 2000, I had to move to an
efficiency apartment in the area, with
just SSD and VA disability at the time.
Thanks for your interesting videos and
reminiscening about living in Phoenix,
when it was much smaller. I was living
and working nearby where the reporter
was car bombed in 1976.
In Little Rock, AR, we have 1 KFC left. Yet, so many Popeyes. In the 90's, the KFC'S began to disappear. It really was odd. Back in the 80's we had about 10 or 12 locations. Then in the 90's they started closing locations, or in some cases, make those weird hybrid locations. Ex. Taco bell/ KFC, or Pizza Hut/ KFC. Then they had the odd gas station locations, sometimes hybrids. Now just 1 location. It had burned to the ground, and they rebuilt it, finishing just last year. It really is bizarre, that so many are gone.
The first location is still so pristine on the outside, it makes me want to film a movie there or something
None of the KFC’s have closed (yet), but one of the locations in my area has gone very downhill. Last time I went there, the register was broken (they took orders on sheets of paper) and they only had 2 employees.
A lot of KFCs have been closing in my city, but it seems like they are renovating one into something new
Canes and chicfila killed all them slowly
Thank you for your caring words. I needed to hear that at this time and I'm sure others feel the same way. Bless you.
Eric: thanks for this and enjoyed it as always.
I probably haven’t eaten there since it was Kentucky Fried Chicken, and I used to love it. I’m not much into fast food anymore, personally, but it’s still sad to me to see so many of my favorite childhood places disappearing. What’s great about your videos is how nostalgic you are as well, so I don’t feel quite so alone in that, if that makes sense? Anyway, great video and hope you all are staying safe in AZ.
When my local KFC stopped accepting KFC coupons was the last time I went. My local one has a nasty reputation anyway.
Always love the Mr. Roger's music in the background 😊
your comments on placing affordable housing on the land of closed restaurants (or even re-purposing the existing building) is like one of the best i've heard.
Don't forget how all the KFC's in South Park, Colorado closed about a decade ago. Sad times indeed! ;)
Even here in Hawaii which is still big on KFC has had a few locations close over the years. One place is now a Jolliebees a Filipino fast food restaurant that also sells fried chicken.
Another great video. Love the wrong way drive-thru!
My local kfc / long John silvers closed had memories there :(
Perfect timing again! Just sat down for a break on this scorching hot work day! Thanks for making break time excellent :)
I don’t see anything wrong with you bringing the homeless issue to light. People just don’t want to accept that one day it could easily be them. Especially in these crazy times.
I have always liked KFC. Never had a bad experience whatsoever. That stinks that they’re closing because I always thought you got a lot of good food at a fair price.
Excellent video as usual!
Keep up the great work! Love these types of videos.
Love this video!!! I’d love to see a updated fiesta mall, I’m interested to see how it looks now 🙈
What's the name of the songs in this video big dog? Love em!! Love your content. Keep the unique soundtracks!👍🏽👏🏽 thanks for filming Papago Plaza. Wish u would of filmed "Los Arcos Mall". I remember going their as a kid in 1998 1999.
The first location is becoming a Starbucks now. I'm glad it didn't take so long to get someone into that one other than the second one that has been like that for years.
As a kid I loved the biscuits and coleslaw - but I haven’t had it in maybe 25 years? Sometimes I catch their ads and it looks good, but its just not something I eat. Loving the content, thank you for continuing to post.
I agree KFC was delicious when I was a kid but sadly it's not what it used to be. I have no interest in ever eating there again.
As soon as I clicked on the video, I knew what location was going to be first. I used to shop at the Safeway across the street from that KFC in Gilbert all the time. That KFC always got my orders wrong so I stopped going there. One time, they told me they ran out of chicken...
KFC seems to be doing much better in Canada. Locations around me have been recently renovated or moved to a whole new and better location. A couple new stores have opened as well. I have also noticed that most of their food has gotten better over the last 5 years except their chicken pieces which just keep getting worse somehow. Their other menu items are great though!
Amazing! Love this concept of stalking out abandon KFCs.
I recently took a temp job for a few days, and they brought in some KFC for lunch. It was tasty, but I prefer their chicken pot pie. Oooooh, so good.
I agree, homelessness is a huge problem, especially here in Austin. On any given street corner, you'll see tent cities at the underpasses, and people with a cardboard sign where traffic is congested because of 5 o'clock rush hour. I don't have a solution, but for some of them, they don't want to be helped. They want cash for drugs or alcohol.
Surprised they still maintain the bushes and was surprised at how little Pizza Hut contributes to the YUM btm line.
Nothing but bones left of this chicken! Did you find any finger-lickin' good spiders?
6:25 Family Dollar indicates a lower income neighborhood, I wouldn't have had open a restaurant there. You just keep on showing every thing you see. I believe Chic-fil-a is satisfying our chicken urges.
I’ve noticed Arizonan fast food buildings stand out tremendously compared to others within the United States.
We had one location that got vacated by KFC turned into a Jollibee...and one across from a shopping center become a Walgreens. (the latter one used to be a Tower Records store.)
Kfc is really popular in other countries, like here in Australia. We have a completely different menu down here though
KFC has gone downhill at a time when other fried chicken restaurants opened up that offer much better taste, overall quality and value.
This was fun to watch because my local KFC just got done with a whole store renovation. I dunno if it'll help them, but at least the outside looks nice and fresh.
Not sure if I'll bother going inside now that they've finished the remodel, but the last time I ventured in there everything looked so grimy, it was not a pleasant sight.
0:26 I actually live close to those posted locations. Cool!
KFC used to be good before they switched their recipe circa 2008. And their gravy used to be the best. Now it's pretty disappointing.
Those wall sconces are certainly TACO BELL style.
I watched this video right after riding my bike down to a Happy Garden Chinese in Lamar CO for some curbside. Looking at this place, it too looked like a former KFC at one time. I don't think there's another KFC any where in that town either.
Other infamous former structures are long abandoned, Long John Silver's. There's one in Hereford TX that seems to have been sitting unused off the US-60 for an until number of years. I like the food, but out here in beef country, seafood of any type is in for a fight.
Honestly if kfc went away completely I wouldn’t mind. I haven’t been to one in years and and I think it would probably be better that way actually.
I was sad when the A&W moved out of that location with the KFC. I used to work across the street from the 1st location!
Where is it? I live in Phoenix and usually recognize every place he shows but I couldn’t place that.
@@danieldaniels7571 SEC of Val Vista and Elliot
One closed down in my town. They tore it down and replaced it with a Freddy’s. We still have two though. One close to the college and another on the other side of town. I can’t remember the last time I ate at one. I think it was one time last year.
The Cave Creek and Greenway location closed a few years ago.. I remember going there on my lunch break and they were out of chicken lol
There was a KFC / Taco Bell combo really close to my work. I only went in there a few times and it seemed like it was always dirty / sticky. Like the workers never cleaned or the cleaner residue just wasn't ever washed away. I stopped going one day when there was a fly in my cup from the soda dispenser. A few weeks later, the health department shut the place down and its been sitting empty for a year plus since. =/
Theres another KFC near me that is much cleaner and I've gone just for the Cheetos and donut sandwiches when they had those and to try the MTN Dew Sweet Lightning. But otherwise I don't really care for the KFC flavoring style of their chicken.
Abandoned Fast Food restaurants videos, I approve
i really miss their little Bucket parfaits . Chocolate creme was the best.
We need covered drive thru locations here in Florida. Not only is it painfully hot and absurdly sunny, we also have very heavy daily afternoon summer thunderstorms.
I loved KFC growing up but about 20 years ago they stopped being good. BTW, You have a very soothing voice!
I haven’t had KFC in ages. The only one in my hometown was shut down by the county health department about five or six years ago because of the awful sanitation in the kitchen.
I did love eating their food as a kid though but my preference for takeout fried chicken has largely shifter towards Albertson’s before then.
30+ years ago I also went through a drive through backwards. My car was a 1967 MGB-GT ,,,,,,right hand drive!
Also, back in the 1960s, my grandfathers sister was driving out west and went to a KFC for lunch.
Ole Col. sanders was working that day in that location.
He did this for many years after selling the company.
Also my uncle the police Sgt. from Columbus personally knew Dave Thomas of Wendy's fame.
And my uncle was asked by Dave if he wanted in on the company,,,he declined.
KFC still open here but a few Pizza Huts have closed. But then again it is NY there are many mom and pop pizzerias that are awesome. The one Pizza Hut I want to get into is haunted and want to see what's up now that its closed.
Pizza Hut is going to suffer badly from one of its biggest franchisers declaring bankruptcy. Particularly in the northeastern United States, the competition in the pizza business is FIERCE, so if Pizza Hut exits a local market it'll be very difficult for them to get back in later.
I remember (70s and 80s) when Kentucky Fried Chicken was a part of Gino's. Gino's was so good, loved their cheeseburgers and my mom would always get the Giant.
The first KFC franchise pictured in this excellent episode operated as a combined KFC and A&W restaurant for some time and was in operation from 2001 until Q1 2019. The building was then leased to a Scottsdale-based restaurant investment group and was slated to anchor a new Starbucks franchise named "Val Vista and Elliot". However, this may have fallen through (COVID-19?) as the building was put up for lease again on May 27, 2020, and is still available for lease as of today.
Never been a fan of KFC but I'd imagine their decline coincides with the rise of Chick-fil-A.
Agree with you. I don't know any Chick-fil-a in my area that doesn't have long lines at the drive thru nearly all day, while the local KFC never has more than one car in the drive-thru. RIP Colonel Harlan Sanders.
And chick fil a is not even good or worth it. I dont get why people love chickfila. I let my 14 yr old son try chickfila a couple weeks ago because of all the hype he heard. He was very disappointed. I said, I told you so, I told you its not good, but I dont think he was expecting to be so dissapointed.
Years ago when I lived in California we had a KFC that turned into a tuxedo rental shop.
I'm in SoCal and I feel KFCs are hard to find in general if you look on a wide scale. I'm fortunate to have 2 near me (the hot wings have been a fav of mine since I was a kid). And I agree with you showing reality. I think it's one of the points of urbex and mall content -- there's a realness to these places just left abandoned and dying, and people shouldn't ignore it. They carry their history and memories but they also have their current state and being. These derelict buildings def could be of better use like for housing as you said.
It’s like the KFC South Park episode
I don't visit fast food restaurants that often but I like KFC. The fact that they are number 2 directly behind Mc Donald's was new to me. Best reagrds from the South of Germany.
1) I laughed way too hard at driving the opposite way through the drive-thru. That was too good! XD
2) We have a few KFCs around, but I do worry about them shutting down if things start to go south for the company. Two of them are in areas that offer little in terms of retail, and one of them have the buffet option which I know has to be suffering due to the pandemic. The third is in a bit better spot - it's on one of the most prominent highways in our area - but there's a ton of other restaurant choices in the same area, so it does face a lot more competition. I do hope they all survive, however. While I do tend to enjoy Popeye's a bit more than KFC nowadays, KFC is far closer to my house and are far easier to get to (versus the two Popeye's locations we have, which one is very hard to get into due to road construction and the other is on a dangerous triangle-shaped intersection that we want to avoid at all costs, if we can help it).
The former KFC in my neighborhood is now a payday loans place. There was another nearby on a major commercial street that is just vacant. The only local location remaining (unless there is something out in the far suburbs) is in a Downtown food court.
Also like to add that Id keep the remnants of the homeless in there. Let people know that exploring places like this could lead to meeting someone there, and sometimes those people dont want you there. As long as you're not filming actual people Im ok with it.
Interesting. I've never seen an abandoned KFC in Colorado. In fact, in the last year I've seen two locations torn down and replaced with new buildings, pandemic and all. We also have those hybrid stores that are both KFC and A&W; do they have those in Arizona? I don't eat there anymore because every time I go, I get an upset stomach. It doesn't help that I worked there in the 90's in what was a brand new building but the hygiene was seriously lax. No one cared and our store was always slam busy.
That first location is a fairly recent closure as it closed within the past year. I ate there quite a few times over the years. It used to be paired with an A&W sometime in the early 2000s.
Someone else posted a comment saying that location was planned to be converted into a Starbucks franchise in the near future, but apparently the pandemic caused those plans to be aborted and the building to go back on the market as a result.
We still have one of those all in one KFC/Taco Bells in our town. They closed for a week to upgrade the kitchen but they are still slow as hell. Id still hate for it to go out because besides that and McDonalds all we have are like 9 pizza places for a town of about 6000 people.
We had a number of KFC locations close in our area. However the ones that were left got completely renovated, and a few more have even opened back up.
It is important to show the evidence of homelessness because those folks slip through the cracks and are neglected and nobody should be without shelter
Great video, I have not had kfc in a few years, But we still have quite a few in the Cleveland area
KFC is very popular in Japan and other Asian countries. That's why its number 2 company.
If the last two restaurants on Earth were KFC and Long John Silvers, then I'd probably choose...starvation.
35th ave camelback in phoenix arizona there use to a kfc it's forsure boarded up .
At least in my case, the KFC near me closed after road construction in front of their location blocked traffic.
The KFC near me is still open but I will usually go to Bojangles instead. Too bad y'all don't have them out in Arizona.
We used to eat KFC when I was a kid (20 some odd years ago) and that's the last time I've eaten KFC.
a 16 piece meal at the KFCs in my state is $65.99 O_O i do not know how they are still in business up here . they do have a pretty big market over seas especially in China
I used to volunteer my spare time in Chicago trying to get people off the street. In the 3 years I did that we got a total of 4 people to commit to entering a halfway house and none ended up staying. People don't realize that the overwhelming majority of homeless want to be on the street. They don't realize that they can make $100 a day in a city like Chicago to feed whatever habits they have. Society isn't failing these people. They failed themselves and we enable it.
The 2nd one on Main has been closed for a very long time. I do believe it was a taco place for a while. In high school I worked at the restaurant across the street that had the big neon sign, too bad its just a dirt field now.
I believe KFC has had some cases where franchisees who owned multiple locations went under. I believe that's what happened with some of them in Scottsdale.
Our KFC has been closed for two years and the Church's closed in April. That leaves one local chicken place.
The only KFC that closed near here was because the building was falling apart, literally. Australia sings the "Fast Food Rockers-Fast Food Song" everyday!
i need to go take some pics of my local KFC, i don't think they've fixed up the store or the parking lot once since the 90s
Pizza Hut could be next with store closures. One of their biggest franchise groups, NPC International, recently filed for bankruptcy. Even before that, NPC has been closing small town locations or closing several stores in bigger cities, and keeping only a few open with just carryout or delivery.
It’s crazy that the second KFC on this video is painted like that. Because there was a KFC on 35th Ave & Camelback in Phoenix that after it closed (in 2010) it was painted like that but it still abandoned, but that KFC was shared with A&W.
I personally wonder if both of those locations were planned Taco Bell conversions that didn't work out for some reason. The paint job leans toward them intending to become Taco Bell...
Im sure someone else in the comments has already pointed this out. KFC does really well in other countries, specifically asia. it's even a holiday tradition in japan to get KFC during christmas. unfortunately it's losing a lot of footing in the US and i wouldnt be surprised if it goes under here but stays alive elsewhere.
Unless there's one near by, it will probably be a Bosa Donuts soon.
And that's a good thing.
Boston Markets too.
It's weird to see an empty KFC, in my area (Detroit suburbs) they do a lot of business or at least they're doing more because of the pandemic. I've seen their drive thru with 10 cars deep during the workweek sometimes :I Maybe it's different depending on what part of the country you live in
Was the first kfc at Val Vista and Elliot?
I have never been a fan of KFC since we got Popeyes in this area, but in my town we only have KFC. There are two stores here and they are both hit and miss as to quality and getting the order right. The one nearest my home in recent months have greatly improved and we get food there sometimes. The mashed potatoes and gravy used to be real good, but not nearly as good anymore and I am old enough poor childhood taste accounts for this. Overall I think the quality of KFC and Pizza Hut both seem inferior to Taco Bell, but we have a very well run Taco Bell franchise here.
I think alot has to do with their menu not having many options also their mac and cheese tastes more like mac and butter and prices keep going up while the portions seem to get smaller
Exactly...even worse in a place where in the continental US it's cheaper they add a few dollars to the price. Like for example it's $5 in the mainland and $8 in Hawaii. Don't get me started on promos that don't even happen here because that's even more infuriating.