Asda looks set to expand its George clothing brand into homeware.
The retailer has registered the ‘George Home’ name with the Intellectual Property Office across all the main home appliance, clothing and electronic product categories, as well as under the domain name George.home.
It is not yet clear whether George Home will be a standalone or in-store offering or whether it will be in addition to or a replacement for Asda Living.
Asda refused to be drawn on its plans for the George brand, which opened its first clothing store in Dubai this week but hasn’t had a standalone presence in the UK since 2008, when Asda closed its 11 George stores. “There is nothing to report at the moment,” an Asda spokesman said. “We register logos, trademarks and domains all the time.”
There are currently 33 Asda Living stores nationwide. The retailer was initially targeting 150 of the non-food stores by 2015. However, it revised those targets last year citing the recession as a key reason for expanding at a more “sensible pace”.
It also announced that it had been improving the layout of Asda Living stores, following feedback from customers.
Including Dubai, the Walmart-owned retailer has opened nine George clothing stores across the Middle East and UAE in the past year, with another due to open in Malta this month.
This month, Asda posted a 0.8% rise in pre-tax profits to £774.3m for the year to December 31 as it confirmed plans to continue expanding George internationally.
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