You are right about the Circle K, but the difference between the two buildings is that historic brick and mortar (such as what is on Nic's) is usually much softer and more porous than modern brick, such as what is on the Circle K. Modern brick has a much harder-fired glaze. So, when you try to strip old brick you can much more easily damage it. Usually a chemical strip would be advisable. Sandblasting would have devastating consequences, as it would eat through the glaze and make the brick MUCH more vulnerable to moisture and eventual spalling. Even soda blasting is usually discouraged, in fact often so is blasting it ONLY with a pressure washer.
Chemical strips are much more time consuming and expensive - and often less effective - but at least they generally don't damage the glazed surface of the brick. Once the glaze is off of brick it often becomes BETTER to paint, just to block moisture, but of course moisture is insidious and still finds a way in, so usually painting/removal is just the beginning of the end for the brick, and maybe someday even the structure itself. Some elaborate HP projects actually remove all of the brick and turn it around 180 degrees so that the remaining glazed side faces out, but you can only imagine how expensive THAT is. This makes future renovation potentially much more expensive and often too expensive to make sense economically.
Here is an example of spalling:
![](https://homestar2001.files.wordpress.com/2012/12/central-park-circle-021.jpg?w=600)
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