Are people really surprised by this? The first indication that $5.99 shirts may or may not be available is the word CLEARANCE. If you have ever shopped at Macy's before, you know that CLEARANCE is a bunch of odds and ends that are hanging around, waiting to be packed up and shipped out to an off-price retailer. The fact is, they only need to have (had) one $5.99 shirt in stock for the ad to be legit. Who's to say that one shirt wasn't sold before you got there? The other indication is that the ad is very vague, no brand name description or any other details are given, which means the selection, or lack of selection, means that the chances of you finding that $5.99 deal are probably impossible.

Edgar replies: Rico, under Massachusetts law a retailer needs to have sufficient quantity to meet reasonably anticipated demand. One shirt doesn't cut it. Further, this is not a case where they had a flurry of early sales when the store opened. There never was a display of any $5.99, as the department manager admitted. The disclaimer in their footnote doesn't apply just to this item, but to all items in their circular. No seller can legally advertise merchandise but say in a footnote that they may not actually have any.