They can also get their wholesale costs down through the economics of scale (buy a ton of crap, get a big discount) or other purchasing tricks. Like, wholesalers often want to get rid of extra stuff at the end of the fiscal year, and they’ll offer deep discounts then. Or if you agree to feature their product in the best spot in your store, they’ll give you a special discount to sweeten the deal. Etc.
Stores can also add to the perceived value of the stuff they sell by creating a nice-looking atmosphere. Like, if you go to a little boutique store that is softly lit, with cherry wood floors and nice displays, that’s neatly organized, airy and spacious, you feel good about shopping there. Subconsciously, all the stuff in there seems to be more worth it, because they are taking such nice care of everything. It makes it seem like the things inside must be nice. So maybe you buy a shirt there for $50.
If you saw the exact same shirt in a crowded, disorganized warehouse-type store, it wouldn’t seem like a $50 shirt. The atmosphere above makes it easy to shop and to imagine yourself owning the shirt (or whatever.) It’s just like staging a house. It seems more plausible for the “regular” price to be high, even if they have no intention of selling it at that price.