Investors have been pulling back from retail real estate lately as online shopping continues to encroach on brick-and-mortar locations. But investors are still hungry for one category of retail property: grocery stores.

Small investors are buying up stand-alone retail sites that house Wal-Mart Stores Inc.’s smaller grocery stores in the South, eyeing the stable revenue being generated by the largest U.S. grocer.

Last week, an investor bought four buildings that house Wal-Mart Neighborhood Market in Tennessee for $49.5 million from Chattanooga-based developer Hutton Cos. Another three buildings are in escrow for three separate buyers.

These buildings have triple-net-lease structures, which are typically leased to single tenants such as McDonald’s Corp. or CVS Corp. Landlords simply own the buildings, while tenants under long-term leases of about 10 to 20 years manage the properties and pay the operating expenses and taxes. These real-estate holdings are seen to generate low but stable yields.

“The buyers are typically baby boomers and other high-net-worth individuals looking for something with no landlord maintenance,” said Eric Carlton, senior vice president at Colliers International, a real-estate services firm.