IN NOVEMBER 2001, long before the Kelo ruling threw the floodlights on eminent domain abuse, Susan Watson sent a distressed letter to James D. Sinegal, the president and CEO of Costco. She owned several hundred shares in the retail giant–and, as she put it, had been “a loyal customer and ardent fan” for many years–but now feared the company “may be violating the rules of our free market economy” to swell its business.

“I recently learned that Costco has been or will be the beneficiary of at least four pending eminent domain actions, where private property was or may be condemned so that Costco could build or expand a warehouse,” Watson wrote, ticking off examples in New York, Missouri, and California. “If Costco had benefited from eminent domain once, I might regard it as a lucky break. Twice would be a happy–albeit unlikely–coincidence. But the list is long, and it appears to be a strategy of Costco Wholesale Corporation to deprive others of their private property rights. To bully small business with the power of eminent domain is wrong.” For that matter, she added, “among Costco’s most valuable customers are small business owners.”