I bought my first (recent) road bike at Performance Bikes, a Fuji Finest 2.0, aluminum with carbon forks. It wasn't their very lowest end model. On sale, it was $600. By the next year, there were a couple left in stock at the other location for $500. It was decent enough that I rode it for 18 months, 6000 miles and convinced me to upgrade when I could afford it. I sold it on craigslist for $300 (within 48 hours of posting it).

So it's possible, but you might have to be creative and ask if there are older year bikes they are trying to get rid of.