Washington | Costco customers packing their cars with retail bargains in freezing Virginia weather this week seemed impervious to the DEI storm now hitting America’s giant grocer.

Like many major US companies, Costco is in the crosshairs of activist groups urging the bulk grocer to reconsider its diversity, equity and inclusion policies. The pressure on the private sector in the US and elsewhere has been amplified this week by Donald Trump’s new administration.