We call this a "dribble out" in my Indusry. It's an old primary-market tactic to control market price and control supply. However, instead of the manufactuer/issuer-bookrunner doing it, it's the lowly retail middle-middle man now. It's like a branch office retail mom-and-pop stockbroker was limiting the supply to their clients.
Retailers need to realize they exist soley in this chain to perform a simple distribution role in this chain. Otherwise, just like with my broker example above, the client moves on (or they'll get checked by the supplier).