The future of KFC restaurants in NE Oklahoma

Thursday, February 27th 2003, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

Looking for a bucket of chicken for dinner? You may have to drive a few extra miles to get one. Sixteen KFC locations in northeast Oklahoma are closed, the result of an apparent bankruptcy.

News on 6 consumer reporter Rick Wells has details on that, and what will happen next. â€œWeâ€™re supposed to get paid next Thursday, I don't even know where I'm gonna pick up my check." Katesha Childers worked at a KFC on North Peoria until last Friday. She came to work and was told the store was closed until further notice. They didn't tell her she was fired, so she doesn't know whether she still has a job or not. She's in the same boat as everyone else who worked there.

Many of them checked in with Angela Harris at the Arby's next door. Rick Wells, "Were you able to hire any of them?" Angela Harris: â€œNoâ€ Sheâ€™s concerned about another north Tulsa business closing down.

Lots of people still stop in for lunch, or drove thru, looking for something to eat, most wondered how this place could be closed. "When you charge $1.50 for a wing how could you go bankrupt.â€ Bankruptcy is apparently it.

Here's what we know. A few years ago a Dallas businessman bought 16 KFC franchises in Tulsa, NE Oklahoma, and SE Kansas. Last Thursday they closed up tight.

Larry Hoover is a franchise owner from Sapulpa. His family has been in the KFC business for 30 years he says he expects the Tulsa stores to re-open soon. "I'd say fairly quickly. I'd say they're gonna try to open them as soon as possible." That way they'd protect what market share they had and

He says he and other owners in Oklahoma might be interested in buying some of the affected KFC locations; after all, he grew up on Kentucky Fried Chicken. "Almost every day."

Rick says a source in Dallas told the News on 6 Thursday the affected KFC locations should re-open as early as Friday or Saturday.