An article in the Wall Street Journal on May 24, 2014 (http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702303468704579572141307216318?mg=reno64-wsj) titled “Cordovan Shoes for Men Play Even Harder to get”, describes the over $2400 price points and six month wait times for cordovan leather shoes. The leather is obtained from the muscle near the rump of a horse, with availability tied to horse meat consumption. But lower consumption of horse meat, larger alleged volume purchases of entire horse hides by some traders, six month tanning time for cordovan leather, all are claimed to reduce availability of cordovan leather. Given the customer demand for cordovan leather shoes, which claim to retain their sheen over time, why does distributor inventory not solve the availability problem ? Is this a temporary bullwhip effect, where reduced horse meat consumption and higher retail prices will create a new equilibrium where availability issues are resolved ? What are opportunities for other supply chain entities to mitigate the supply issues ?