Bryan, we've done this a bunch. Honestly though... it eventually turns into a maintenance headache. While we would clearly label the product as discontinued and point the user to the suggested replacement product(s), more often than not there would be phone calls or emails about how to acquire the discontinued product.

When we hit a discontinued product (primarily those subject to MAP pricing), we move them to a Clearance section and since it's discontinued it is no longer subject to MAP policies. Priced for clearance and they move fast. This is of course based on the fact that these items are in the warehouse and not shipped from elsewhere. We also do this for products not subject to MAP policies.

I tag the clearance item accordingly and change the URL. I'll redirect the original URL to the new suggested item or to the primary category it was assigned. Some may wince at that practice (redirecting to suggested product) but the indexes get cleaned up real fast and sometimes I'll see it replaced with the new product. More so if the index is capturing a generic search term rather than an exact product name match.

No doubt! Phone calls are encouraged. It's a good strategy if this is your type of crowd. Gives you the chance to sneak your way into their next year's vendor lists.

Why it became a nusiance is we're talking hundreds of discontinued products!