If you think retail is a boring place for investment, think again. The last couple months have brought the announced buyouts of Gymboree and J. Crew. A deal for the latter was made public just yesterday, and these buyouts suggest that the space still holds some bargains ... if you purchase the right company. And heck, you don't even have to get up early to get these doorbuster deals.

So to flesh out some of those possibilities, I asked some of my fellow analysts to find some cheap retail stocks that look set to benefit from the holidays. Read on!

Rich Smith, Fool contributor
When Express (Nasdaq: EXPR) went public last summer, everything about the IPO told me to stay away. Everything but the profit.

A former franchise of Limited Brands, Express had been scooped up by private equity, loaded with debt, then foisted back on an unsuspecting market. The few analysts recommending Express -- Bank of America (NYSE: BAC), UBS, Piper Jaffrey, and Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS) -- all had an interest in convincing people to buy, because they all owned shares.

But the more I looked, the more I liked. (And the more shares I bought.) Comps are climbing, and profit is strong. Best of all, this below-the-radar retailer sells for barely [eight times] annual free cash flow -- but perhaps not for long.

All month long, we've heard retailers report boffo earnings, as consumers reopen their wallets. Wanna bet Express hopped on that profit train, too? Better decide quick -- Express reports Q3 earnings in just one week.

Chuck Saletta, Fool contributor
Sometimes, the best values are staring you straight in the eye. With over $400 billion in annual revenue, Wal-Mart (NYSE: WMT) is the world's largest retailer. It's also a cheap stock. Trading at barely 12 times its forward earnings projections and just under 7.5 times its trailing operating cash flow, Wal-Mart's shares are available at the same sort of value pricing as the merchandise it sells.

Add to it a respectable 2.2% dividend yield and a 36-year history of regularly raising that payment to its owners, and you have a stock worth owning today and well into the future.

April Taylor, CFA, Fool contributor
Like the jeans and hoodies in its stores, Aeropostale (NYSE: ARO) is on sale. Trading at 10 times free cash flow and a forward P/E of 9.7, this teen retailer is available to bargain-hunting investors at a significant discount to its mall-rat BFFs, Abercrombie & Fitch (NYSE: ANF) and American Eagle Outfitters (NYSE: AEO). Aeropostale has nearly $300 million in cash on its balance sheet, no debt, and has been a consistent performer. While these competing teen retailers saw revenue and earnings plunge during the recession, Aeropostale grew both. The company has been cheap for some time – and still is following a bounce on the J. Crew buyout news -- but I expect Benjamin Graham's weighing machine to take note of this retailer in the long run.

So there you have it: Three bargain-priced retail stocks that look set to do well this holiday season.

Have another Black Friday retail bargain for readers? Share some of yours in the comments section below.