Dunnes is to open five new stores this year in the Republic of Ireland ­ bringing its total to 125. The news comes amid rumours of an imminent sale of Dunnes to Wal-Mart ­ something the company will not comment on. Two stores will open in Dublin ­ one in the north, one in the south of the city. A new store will open in Cork in the Autumn. And in Galway, Dunnes will be the anchor tenant of a new shopping centre. The fifth store will be in Malaga, Spain, bringing the group's number of Spanish stores to four. This new store will follow a format which has already been successful for Dunnes in Spain: clothing, footwear and homewares with a small food package. Dunnes said: "We anticipate being able to open more new stores in 2001." {{NEWS }}