Ah, the post office is among those who see the San Fernando Valley as separate. :)

http://www.walmart.com/storeLocator/...a+Monica%2C+CA

shows only two in Panorama City then one in West Hillls and then even further north.

It shows only two that I can find with an address in "Los Angeles, CA".

However, I don't know whether to trust that map. It claims there's a Long Beach store north of the 105, and thus says Long Beach is closer to Santa Monica than any of the Torrance stores??? :confused:

The northern most one is the Porter Ranch Walmart Supercenter. I actually have a friend that lives in Porter Ranch and yes, that is still a part of the City of LA (street names are in blue signs).

In that light, yes, I suppose the Porter Ranch Walmart could be considered as a Walmart "for more financially well off people" in LA.

Obviously Long Beach is no where near the 105. The LB Walmart is, according to reviews on Yelp!, "ghetto."

That is a good point. With Walmart being the only major national retailer that has EMV terminals activated as of today, they do have an early lead in credit card security. They could promote that to gain more security conscious customers away from their competitors.

First USA emv transaction today at Walmart in Valley Stream, NY just on the other side of the NYC line. Based on this and all the other replies both here and on the main emv thread, I think it is just about safe to say that Walmart is the first US retailer with just about 100% (I am sure there may be a few isolated exmples) emv acceptance. And the terminal in big bold letters told me when to remove the card (it was my Fidelity Amex 2% cash back card emv equipped with chip and signature). For those who think emv is the greatest thing since chopped liver, we're on the way!

Walmart did not stop giving people a choice, they simply required you to press one extra button (cancel) in order to sign. Swipe fees for PIN-based debit networks are much lower than signature-based. Banks used to give you an incentive to sign, or charge to use PIN, for the same reason. This had nothing to do with security, it was all about maximizing profits.

You are shopping at Walmart more because you get to dip your card? I have to say I find that pretty pathetic, but whatever floats your boat.

The post office assigns each zip code in the country a city name, which may or may not match the name of the incorporated city. It is not uncommon for cities to change their boundaries, split, merge, etc., and the post office doesn't want to deal with all that. Many big cities have separate postal city names for certain regions (e.g., Hollywood, Queens, etc.) and some neighborhoods are in one city or unincorporated area but receive their mail through another city (e.g., "Beverly Hills Post Office").

I don't think it's for the physical action of dipping the card. Our local grocery stores had major data breaches last year, so I'd ALREADY shifted some shopping to Walmart (can't get everything there) knowing they take security more seriously, and this only reinforces that.

Now, that said, does it really matter? No, probably not. Afterall, the database only needs to have my card info in it once to steal it and I'm not prepared to completely avoid our local grocery stores.

But, no, I don't think it's pathetic at all to prefer merchants where your card info is protected from theft.

Honestly, I don't see anything "pathetic" about it. If there was a Walmart that was in closer my area other than the 3 Ralphs in my neighborhood, I'd shop at Walmart knowing that they've activated their EMV terminals knowing that it's a more secure payment than the old swipe & sign. If the 3 Ralphs in my area turned on their own terminals, even better.

If you had a choice to leave your valuables in a sock drawer or in a safe, which would you choose? Being security conscious makes up a part of consumer choice these days, especially in the hacker prone world we live in today.

I see the point about EMV being more secure, but the difference is not significant enough to influence where I shop. Credit card fraud is rare, certainly more rare than several other things I have to worry about when I go shopping, like losing my wallet or getting mugged or hit by a drunk driver. Furthermore, there is zero liability for credit card fraud, and I have enough cards that it's not much of an inconvenience if one or even two of them get hit with fraud and go out of service while I wait for replacements. I guess I would prefer EMV merchants if all other things were equal, but that is never going to be the case.

I assure you. If the prices at walmart were significantly higher than the prices say at another retailer who doesn't use the emv capabilities of whatever pos terminals he or she has, 99.9% of the people wouldnt give a doggone. They would shop for the lower prices. Of course, there's the one time novelty for some here who have been pushing for emv but as my urologist always tells him when my kidney stones act up, this too shall pass.

The thing is, I avoided other grocery stores after they were hit with Target-like breaches right before Target last year (Google URM Stores...).

What I discovered was that, for many things, Walmart is better. Not just cheaper, but fresher, better selection, etc. Better security is the icing on the cake.

Yup. I used to shop at Target but their breach caused a big loss of confidence. Even if EMV wouldn't have prevented it, it still shows their management and their attitude towards security are sloppy. Having worked in IT I know there are companies that cut costs in that area because they think the risk is worth it.

Other pathetic consumer choices I've made over the years include switching from "Tax Cut" by TurboTax 10 years ago the one year they came out with some restrictive DRM scheme after using them for several years in a row. I switched to HR Block software and now have used them for about a decade and never went back. One stupid decision (that they later reversed) lost them a customer for life

Another one, a local grocery store when I was 12 years old 40 YEARS AGO falsely accused me of stealing candy and illegally detained me without my parents for over an hour and then told me I was banned from the store FOR LIFE so I've honored that ban and have never set foot in that grocery store again -- even though that store manager has probably been dead for years now.

So yeah, consumers can be pathetic at times and companies ignore them at their own peril :-)

Well in 18 months, the other competitors have no choice to turn on their EMV terminals as well if they don't want to be held responsible for fraud when the liability shift occurs. The novelty will just become an everyday thing.

Ralphs, my local supermarket chain, already has upgraded terminals with the EMV slot lit up blue as was the case with Walmart before the massive switch on, so I'm guessing in due time Ralphs would turn theirs on too. Otherwise, it's sort of stupid for them to buy all those new terminals and not turn it on, no?

You mean better card security (at most).

There are other types of security. Is Walmart better at those too?

Here in SoCal, NBC 4 LA has been reporting on a crime ring that goes into grocery stores looking for women who've put their purses in their cart, waiting tilll those women turn away from the cart, blocking their view of the cart with a reusable shopping bag, and then taking money and/or valuables out of the purse (leaving the purse itself where it was).

On a folowup report, they pointed out that Trader Joes has no security cameras, and thus has poorer security (for figuring out this particular crime) than other grocery stores in the area.

Do you happen to know how your Walmart vs other grocery stores in the area compare on security cameras? You'd need to know at least that much to be able to say "better security" rather than just saying "better card security".

(And then there's the presence of security guards, lighting of parking lots at night, etc, that factor into overall "security" at grocery stores.)

I saw that news report via Facebook, and it's actually on NBC4LA's website.

Theft Ring Targets Distracted Shoppers at SoCal Stores

One of the victims was actress Katey Sagal (Peggy Bundy from MwC and voice of Leela in Futurama) which made me chuckle as we were just discussing here where Hollywood celebs shop for groceries here in LA (now I know at least Peggy Bundy likes to shop at a grocery store in Westwood!). :D

In the context of EMV, the thief managed to get $2500 cash advance at a Chase Bank with stolen credit cards and stolen ID that way...which surprises me because wouldn't that ring alarm bells that something is fishy at the bank when someone produces a credit card and ID that doesn't match the person and asks for a $2500 cash advance!? :eek:

Did a chip and pin transaction with my uk amex at the Walmart in Whittier, LA

Did you have to enter your pin?