BS”D
The Marshalls example is not valid. Sorry.
Marshalls is a liquidator. They bought the shoes for pennies on the dollar, either from Rockport (Reebok) or from a store or distributor who had overstock or was going out of business.
Anyone who knows retail would assume that the haimishe store owner bought his stock at full wholesale price and was simply unaware that they are now available at Marshalls as overstock.
Small shops keep their old stock until it is gone, or they have two clearance sales, one in spring and one in fall. Could be that next week he will get his new styles and then he’ll put these on sale as well, albeit not at Marshalls prices.
If, on the other hand, you see that his shoes have Marshalls tags on them, or you know that he, too, purchased them at liquidation, then there is an inyan.
What it seems to me is that the store owner is a simple small business owner who does not pay much attention to what is going on out there. He may not care that they are last year’s stock, because he still gets enough customers for them to keep them at full price, and he isn’t interested in more than having a parnosso for himself and his family.
(Then again, there are some haimishe [and other “ethnic”] store owners in NY who are actually running or having their wives and children run clothing, food or hardware stores for cash to live on while their real money is tied up in buildings or other investments. These owners can be the best or the worst when it comes to keeping up with prices, styles etc – it depends how badly they need the cash).