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LEEDS, U.K. -- Wal-Mart's Asda unit in the United Kingdom ended what had been years of speculation recently by confirming it plans to open two standalone apparel stores named after its popular George brand of clothing.

The approximately 10,000-square-foot stores, scheduled to open in September in Leeds near Asda's headquarters and in the south London suburb of Croydon, will carry the complete line of George brand men's, women's and children's apparel at prices the same as those offered at George departments located in most of Asda's 256 stores.

"We thought it was about time to try [George] out on High Street and see how it would go," said Asda spokesman Nick Argawal. "George is a clothing brand in its own right and a unique part of our offering."

George was a popular apparel brand prior to WalMart's acquisition of Asda three years ago, but the implementation of several initiatives since then has contributed to its increased popularity Asda introduced the opening price point Essentially George line in early 2001 and also reduced sourcing costs by leveraging Wal-Mart's purchasing volume. The brand produced double digit same-store sales results during 2001 and then last year Asda announced the brand's same store sales for 2002 were around 30%. Last fall, an initiative called George fast fashion was introduced, which the company said enabled it to capture the latest styles and trends almost as soon as they fail off the catwalk.

With demand for George merchandise high and space within its stores tight, Asda decided to open the stand-alone stores it had been rumored to be opening even before it was acquired by Wal-Mart. Meanwhile, Asda has also had to find other creative ways to increase selling space for George since under Wal-Mart's ownership an increasing amount of general merchandise and specialty division departments such as jewelry, optical and pharmacy have been added to stores. One solution at a store in York was to add a mezzanine level last year where George merchandise could be displayed on an upper level. It was reasoned that George is a powerful enough draw customers would be willing to shop for the brand even though it was not located on the main selling floor.

"Predominantly our customers come for food, but a growing number are coming for George because of its fashionability and affordability," said Argawal.

Mezzanine levels are being added to three more stores this year, according to Argawal.

If the George stores are successful, Asda could expand the concept more quickly than it has been able to do with its conventional stores that are more difficult to locate because of their larger size. And with a potential source of growth from a new store format and an all-cash bid to acquire Safeway, the U.K.'s fourth-largest supermarket chain, still pending before U.K. competition regulators, Asda is poised to become an even more important component of Wal-Mart's international operations. Asda produced sales of $18.1 billion last year and accounted for 44% of Wal-Mart's international sales of $40.8 billion.