BELFAST, Northern Ireland – Sainsbury’s will not be bringing its smaller format store, Sainsbury’s Locals, to Northern Ireland, the Belfast Telegraph reports. The grocery chain announced that it has “no plans” to do so after word has spread about competitor Tesco being set to open five Express locations in Belfast.

“Sainsbury's is committed to its current operation in Northern Ireland through its network of 13 stores and supply chain. At present we have no plans to develop Sainsbury's Locals in Northern Ireland,” said a spokesperson for the chain.

That leaves it wide open for Tesco to continue its expansion of Express locations. So far this year, Tesco has opened five such smaller stores to add to the current dozen or so already in place in the country.

Some see the move by Tesco as unwelcome. “They are very much out to try and compete with the independent convenience stores,” said Glyn Roberts, CEO of the Northern Ireland Independent Retail Trade Association. “But I think Tesco will find that very hard as many of our independent grocers have strong links with the community and very high standards of customer service and choice.”

No word yet on whether Tesco would install facial recognition software in its Northern Ireland locations, as it has in some United Kingdom stores.