Wilsons say latest Discount Depot store has taken off.

Byline: RETAIL NOTEBOOK By Edward Russo The Register-Guard

Retirement didn't fit Don and Charles Wilson.

The brothers got bored with lives of leisure and have opened Discount Depot, a bargain-oriented retail business with outlets in Eugene and Springfield. The 4,000-square-foot stores sell leftover merchandise, mostly from Costco, JC Penney, Sears and Meier & Frank stores. Items include clothes, electronics, food, furniture, toiletries and tools.

Discount Depot receives castaway goods, so the latest products and the most popular sizes are scarce. But you may be in luck if you want an extra-extra-large men's sweater, a 42-inch Samsung large-screen TV, a 40-ounce bottle of Costco's Kirkland brand shampoo with "moisturizing marine algae extract," and many other items.

Don Wilson, 62, last year opened the first Discount Depot, in Marketplace West on West 11th Avenue in Eugene. He was the longtime owner of Western Exchange, an office furnishing store in Eugene. On retiring, he learned about entrepreneurs selling inventory that discount and department stores had been unable to sell - so-called shelf pulls and returned merchandise.

Charles Wilson, meanwhile, had retired in Florida, but his brother persuaded him to open a Discount Depot in Springfield's Mohawk Shopping Center, near Bi-Mart. "There is only so much golf and fishing you can do in Florida," he said.

The store opened last month. It cost about $50,000, most of it for inventory, to set up the outlet. "Right out of the gate, it's really taken off," Charles Wilson said. "We're doing 90 to 100 sales a day. I was expecting to do about a third of that."

The brothers don't like to talk about where they get merchandise. The big retailers that provide the inventory don't like bargain outlets such as the Wilsons' to openly compete against their stores. But with Kirkland labels on many items, it's not hard to figure where much of the stuff comes from. Most of the Wilsons' merchandise comes from stores in Nevada and other states, not from retailers in Eugene and Springfield.

Many of the products are items that failed to sell before it was time to clear the shelves and make way for new merchandise. Some items were returned by consumers, but the Wilsons make sure they work. Some boxes of food are dented.

With such merchandise, the Wilsons have a limited return policy.

"We always tell people that you have seven days from the date of purchase," Don Wilson said. "And if you don't like it, return it to us."

Manufacturers' warranties apply on many products, he said, though consumers should check to see if the items have the necessary paperwork explaining guarantee terms.

Retail Notebook runs Thursdays.