“We had wanted to be in Manhattan for awhile, were in the right financial position and the mall had just been remolded,” said Pete Sadler, JC Penny district manager. Known for “being fashion and price conscious,” Manhattan is an unlikely location for the retailer, however the retail landscape of the Big Apple is changing. We reported earlier that retailers like Brooks Brothers are being replaced with low-cost, high-style retailers like Britain’s TopShop. Although JC Penny “is pulling out all stops in terms of displays, advertising and in-store variety to bolster it’s image from frumpy to more fabulous,” it’s still a solidly middle-market department store. What does this say about the long-term impact of the recession on shopper tastes and behavior?

In this month’s DDI magazine, Paco Underhill states definitively “that we are never bouncing back.” What do you think?