MELVILLE, NY-The grocery sector is a tough place to be right now. When it comes to commercial real estate dispositions, DJM Realty, A Gordon Brothers Group Co., (RECon booth S289) is at the forefront of the industry. The firm is a GlobeSt.com Thought Leader during the month of May in conjunction with the RECon show. DJM's chief executive Mark Dufton talked to us about what is happening in the grocery sector as well as what else is happening that is keeping the firm busy these days.

GlobeSt.com: There is a lot of activity in the grocery arena. What is happening there and how are you involved?

Mark Dufton: There are market factors in the grocery business. Walmart, Target, Sam's Club, and other larger-format grocers have taken an increasing share in the market. That's been taking away from the middle-market folks, which are getting attacked from all angles. They have the big-box guys, who are taking a bigger share of the pie. Then you have Whole Foods and the like that are taking away from the top end. Then there are the dollar-store guys with their increasing food selection. The guy in the middle is getting caught from every angle. It's really been a wake-up call for them, some of the regional players especially. It's making it difficult for them to survive. They're doing everything they can, whether it is real estate or operationally, to get through this period. What we're doing for a number of them is holistically working through their real-estate portfolio and doing a ground-up valuation where we look at each individual store and explore all of the market factors and come up with a strategy, whether they are selling the store to another grocer or a non-grocery replacement. Maybe it's just a matter of renewing the lease and trying to restructure the lease in conjunction with that, or maybe it's a situation where you close a store.