Sorry to say, but I think you just missed the best seasonal buys. Over the past few years I have bought 4 fruit trees from Farm & Fleet's seasonal Garden Center. They close it up in early July and they put all trees on 50% sale in the last weeks. Two of fruit trees cost $15.00, and the last one I bought a few weeks ago at $20.00
Meijer, Rural King, Home Depot and Lowe's don't give you as good a buy.

When you DO buy a fruit tree--this year or 2011--Buy a (cheap)Super BIG pot
(like this one)
http://www.horseloverz.com/Much-Bucket---black---Quart-pr-574835.html
and immediately transplant it
INTO THE POT and close to a water source. You will want to keep it WELL WATERED to get a good root system going. Come September or October move it to it's permanent place. Then, you'll dig a hole a little deeper than the roots and twice as wide. I throw mulch in before the tree goes in, then I cover with mulch and sometimes I have staked it to help during the winter.
I have successfully transplanted fruit trees this way four times. The ONE time I put a tree straight into the ground after I got it home, it died in a month.