If your pickles were cured with brine (coarse salt, dill, pickling spices, etc) you need to refrigerate to stop the fermentation process, or they will get overdone and spoil. That’s why you will find pickles cured this way in the refridgerated/deli section. Vinegar cured pickles are different. If properly packed in a jar, they require no refrigeration until the jar is open. I regret I never encountered a street vendor selling pickles in my 55 years in Los Angeles, but my grandmother and mother made the best I’ve ever eaten.