Five hundred employees at Oklahoma Fixture face layoffs.

Five hundred employees of Oklahoma Fixture Company have been laid off indefinitely.<br><br>The News on Six's Heather Johnson broke the story Friday night, company officials say over the past few weeks

Saturday, January 4th 2003, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

Five hundred employees of Oklahoma Fixture Company have been laid off indefinitely.

The News on Six's Heather Johnson broke the story Friday night, company officials say over the past few weeks they started letting employees go. Several workers we spoke with said they'd been told, they'd be back to work on January 6th.

When they showed up to collect their holiday paychecks no money was given out and instead they were told not to return to work on Monday.

The company's building on Apache Street once housed nearly 600 employees, now, it's virtually shutting it's doors and only a handful remain.

Oklahoma Fixture Company has been making interior design products and fixtures for department stores since 1928.

When they opened their North Tulsa division nearly 10 years ago the company received tax breaks for developing a "struggling" area of town.

Now the company itself is struggling to survive. OFC officials say they're trying to restructure operations. Personnel Director Ken Hird who notified workers today of the layoffs says, "We're working very hard to be back in business. We feel bad for our employees and hope to all be back together soon."

One worker we caught up with said he feels lucky to have missed the cutbacks.

Keith Brunson, OFC Employee, "Just kinda here until further notice, that's about it. Just like any other large corporation you know they're struggling, it's affected Dillards and us too. I feel fortunate I'm here right now."

Company officials say they hope to get everything thing straightened out and be back in business in the next couple of weeks.

But the few employees who survived these layoffs know the future here is shaky and they too could be let go.