Generic Materials in non IS-RETAIL system

Hi,

I needed to know whether a material of material type "Generic Materials"  ( MARA-ATTYPE = '02') can be created in a SAP environment which doesn't have IS-Retail.

I am asking this because I have an IDES where IS-Retail, yet there is a generic material.

If the answer to above is yes, then what are the steps in creation of Generic Material and creation of possible variants of these Generic material.

Thanks a lot for your help!