Goods of Desire

An architect by training, founder Douglas Young wanted to do a lifestyle and home accessories store, with the aim of designing and manufacturing the products instead of shipping Chinese goods made in the West. He launched G.O.D. with the first store in an Ap Lei Chau warehouse (closed 2014) in 1996. Within two years, other locations followed, including on Hollywood Road in Central, Tsim Sha Tsui (closed 2012). The Hollywood Road store still exists today and is home to the famous Instagram mural done in collaboration with street artist, Alex Croft in 2012. In 2001, G.O.D. opened its 20,000 square foot flagship store at Leighton Centre (closed 2013) in Causeway Bay, as well as lifestyle mall 'Delay No Mall', also in Causeway Bay in 2008.

In 2008, the company introduced a 'Hong Kong Street Culture Gallery' at the Jockey Club Creative Arts Centre in Shek Kip Mei, Kowloon, also the location of their design studio and office. The studio remains at this location even though the gallery is closed. In 2009, G.O.D. opened at The Peak Galleria (closed 2015) and in Stanley Plaza and Sai Kung in 2011. In July 2012, they expanded overseas and opened a 6,000 square foot flagship store (closed 2015) in Singapore's historical riverside Clarke Quay. In 2014, G.O.D. became an anchor tenant in PMQ (closed 2020), the historic heritage building turned creative hub in Soho and in the same year, it returned to Causeway Bay (closed end of 2019).

In 2015, G.O.D. expanded in Asia once again by opening three stores in Taiwan (closed 2017) and two pop-up stores in Hong Kong - one at the Hong Kong International Airport in the Departures Hall and the other in Lab Concept (closed 2020) in Admiralty. In the beginning of 2016, G.O.D. opened a store in the MH Mall in Shenzhen, China (closed 2019). G.O.D. opened their second Hong Kong International Airport store in 2018 along with a store in the Hong Kong station (near Exit E / Tung Chung MTR line).

G.O.D. opened a flagship store in Central near Lan Kwai Fong at 6 D'Aguilar Street.

G.O.D.'s core range of lifestyle products are designed in-house, and their product range consists mostly of fashion, home accessories and premium gifts. The designs and prints are inspired by old and new aspects of Hong Kong culture, including products themed with Chinese "Double Happiness" characters, newspaper classifieds, retro local product packaging, 1950s advertisements, old letter boxes. Such products includes "Bishop" and "Rook" bean bags, inspired by Chinese chess and pencil case in the design of old-school Chinese ballet flats.

In 2003, the company introduced its trademark slogan, "Delay No More". The phrase is a homophonic translation of the Cantonese profanity díu néih lóuh móuh (屌你老母) "fuck your mother", but in English it is a call to action; and it is emblazoned on T-shirts and other products.

Controversy

In 2007, Young and seventeen employees were taken in by police for selling T-shirts bearing the logo '14K', the name of one of the city's triad crime syndicates. "Police claimed the shop had broken a section of an 1845 anti-triad law called the Societies Ordinance, which allows for the arrest of any person in possession of 'any books, accounts, writing, lists of members, seals, banners or insignia of or relating to any triad society.' Triad members still often carry such insignia – usually worn on the backs of shirts – that they show to shopkeepers in exchange for protection money."

Authorities "confiscated 88 shirts and more than 500 postcards printed with a '14K' logo – with the numbers written in Chinese characters – from the store's five offices and warehouse located in Central, Causeway Bay, Tsim Sha Tsui and Yuen Long." Young states that "[It] was all a misunderstanding and the shirts were actually referring to 14 karat gold". The 18 employees, including Young, were released the next day, and "their 14K T-shirts, are now collector's items", according to CNN Travel.