Tulsa firm and its employees feeling the impact of the economy

Since 1928, they've been a fixture in the Tulsa business scene. Now Oklahoma Fixture Company is having trouble because of the bad economy. <br><br>The News on Six was the first to bring you the story

Monday, January 6th 2003, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

Since 1928, they've been a fixture in the Tulsa business scene. Now Oklahoma Fixture Company is having trouble because of the bad economy.

The News on Six was the first to bring you the story last week about their recent layoffs. And while the "economy" is no secret, News on Six business reporter Steve Berg says you might be surprised to learn what this longtime Tulsa company does.

Pictures really don't do justice to the high-quality craftsmanship of the woodwork in the lobby of the Oklahoma Fixture Company. It's kind of a real-life catalog for the special niche they've carved out for themselves. "We only build to order, we don't have that in stock, you can't buy it off the shelf." There's not really a product line per se at the Oklahoma Fixture Company.

Ken Hird every job is custom-made done from scratch. "Everything we build is drawn and then our highly skilled craftsman build it." 90% of their business is display cases and counters and other woodwork for higher-end retailers like Dillard's, Macy's, and Bass Pro Shops. Although they also do individual homes. Hird says they once put a million dollars worth of woodwork into a single house.

But obviously, people aren't throwing around a lot of money right now. "Everybody's just a little more squeamish these days." It's a classic ripple effect. If the retailers don't do well, they don't do well. They've laid off about 500 out of 550 workers here in Tulsa. And they've temporarily shut down their Bowling Green, Kentucky plant, another 300 people. Besides the economy, they say this is always a slow time of year, because stores don't want a lot of construction and sawdust during the holiday shopping season. "So, it's not particularly abnormal. We don't like it, we've been fairly successful over the past 10 years not having to have layoffs."

Hird says there are only half-a-dozen places in the whole country that do work like this on this kind of scale. So when the orders do come back, they're likely to get some.

Hird says it's possible they could hire some people back by the end of January. He says they "have" had layoffs of this magnitude in the past and managed to bounce back.