In the age of streaming, a 35-year-old family-owned video store in Dearborn Heights is thriving.
In April 2025, owner Doran Konja, 29, took a leap of faith and transformed the last of his family’s four Video Exclusive stores into Occult83, a “retro adult boutique” for ages 18 and up. One year later, the store has attracted new customers, expanded its community and even added a fifth employee.
“When I was starting the business, I had an idea of what it would look like. Nothing was set in stone, and I wasn’t for sure,” Konja said. “It’s so crazy how many of these things that I dreamed of are coming to fruition.”
Along with shelves of carefully curated rental movies, horror movie merchandise and local snacks, customers can now shop for a large variety of adult and fetish products, including best-selling floggers by local leather-maker Raptor and Bad Dragon toys, sold at only four stores in the U.S.
Long before the store became Occult83, Video Exclusive’s curtained back room ― stocked with adult films ― made 50% of its profits, Konja told the Free Press last year.
Konja’s dad, Mazin Konja, owned the store before his son, and currently owns multiple Adam and Eve franchises in metro Detroit. He said he opened the adult stores after learning about the brand through connections he made at video store owners’ conferences years ago. He said he’s loved seeing his son revive the video store.
With the rebrand and increasing social media presence, the store has attracted new customers and increased revenue from the video rental section, the Konjas said, even though the adult section is what changed the most about the store.
What does ‘Occult83’ mean?
The name Occult83 is inspired by the store’s 80s cult movie vibe, Doran Konja said. The “83” is short for 1983, the year the internet was invented. Between DVD rentals, horror movie merchandise and adult section variety, Konja said, the store hits the three pillars of cult movies: retro, horror and fetish.
“To me, it’s like the ethos of the business and a lot of where we are is based on the age of the internet and embracing that while also keeping it all in a retro realm,” he said.
Businesses based in nostalgia are coming back, said Ed Timke, an assistant professor at Michigan State University’s Department of Advertising and Public Relations. A “cult classic” is a classic for a reason, he said.
“When the world is on fire, maybe literally, people often look back,” Timke said. “Now nostalgia is a tricky thing because it’s through a rosy-tinted lens. ‘Oh it was so great in the 80s.’ No it wasn’t. It’s not all great now. It wasn’t great then. But there are some great things.”
Building community
From longtime movie renters to new customers attending kink-classes on how to tie knots, Konja said he’s proud of the store’s diverse community from “all walks of life.” He said he’s loved getting to know customers and seeing regulars make friends with each other at movie nights or when visiting the store.
“These tiny little personal interactions you have with people you see regularly in your life really kind of fulfill something within our soul as humans,” he said. “That need to connect. Even if it’s not like a best friend, someone you see all the time, it’s important to have regular people that even if you don’t know super well, you know them.”
People are often looking for “third places” — spaces that are not their home or workplace — to connect, especially when those places provide real life and novel experiences, Timke said.
Robert Kelly, a physical media commentator based in central Florida, said he and his wife frequent their local video store, and make an effort to such businesses when they travel. He said he goes to video stores, as well as movie showings, for the experience.
“We were promised the convenience of it (streaming). ‘Oh, It’ll be convenient to be in your home and just click on anything you want,'” Kelly said. “And that’s nice, but I think people miss that. They miss the idea of walking around other people and seeing what they’re getting.”
Most regular customers live within an hour of the store, Konja said, though the store draws customers who go out of their way to visit when they are in Detroit from Cleveland, California and everywhere between.
“It was always the goal of creating this unique space people want to go out of their way to come experience,” Konja said. “It’s fulfilling. I’m shocked it’s been a year in and this is the response we’re getting.”
Are people still renting DVDs?
From a local independent film section — Konja said the store is looking for more movies to stock, especially from creators of color — and niche horror, the store features a wide selection of DVDs and VHS movies.
Since the rebranding, the store has opened more movie rental accounts in the past year than the past five years combined, Konja said. He said upping the store’s social media game has brought in more Gen Z customers.
Kelly said he prefers physical media over streaming because it is more permanent, tangible and unique in a digital age, especially when movies and shows can switch streaming platforms or be removed entirely.
People may seek media that’s not tied to an algorithm because there’s an authenticity that comes with a human curation, Timke said ― there’s a serendipity to finding something by chance, or debating what to rent with friends and family.
Occult83 not only rents movies for $3 for 5 days, with a mail-back option for far away customers, but also buys or gives in-store credit for DVD and VHS collections, Konja said. It also fixes, and when in stock, sells DVD and VHS players.
Not a porn shop
With “cult” in the name, Konja said the store got enough random calls asking if it is a “Satan worship store,” so now it sells sage and tarot cards. He said he was nervous that he’d receive backlash when he rebranded the store to 18 and up with a cult vibe, but he knows the people who are upset about it are not the store’s customers.
“Not everyone is for us, and that’s OK,” he said. “I want everyone to like us. I do genuinely want everyone in all types of life to come and have fun. But I just have to accept that certain people will never come into the store due to whatever they are personally dealing with in their life.”
Though adult merchandise can be seen throughout the store, the porn section that kept the store alive for years is still separated by the iconic curtain.
People, especially non-customers, sometimes perceive the store as a porn shop, but it’s so much more than that, Konja said.
“This whole half of the store is literally just a traditional video rental store,” he said pointing to the side of the store with shelves of movies and movie merchandise. “There’s no one who’s like forcing you to go look at the … smut. Like, no, it’s not that deep. It’s not that crazy. I feel like it’s a pretty chill environment.”
Sex is a normal part of life for most people, Konja said, yet sometimes he avoids talking about his store. Mazin Konja said being in the business of adult stores makes talking about sex as normal as eating breakfast.
“You’re talking about sex because you deal with it 24-7, so it becomes a breakfast for you that you eat every morning,” Mazin Konja said. “Sometimes you have to skip that breakfast, especially (depending on) who you’re sitting with.”
Timke said it’s important for the business and its customers to embrace its contents.
“I think people go into a space like that and they might think, ‘I’m going to be caught,’” Timke said. “But nobody’s watching you, and the other people who are in the store … can’t judge you for being in the store because they’re also in the store.”
What differentiates Occult83 from the Adam and Eve and other adult stores is its variety and environment, Konja said. People travel to visit Occult83 because of the diverse fetish products that customers say they want, as well as its strong commitment to community.
“While, yeah, other businesses will listen to their customers and try to reevaluate and change from that, we are just aiming to cultivate this type of local community of people who are on the self-exploration journey,” Konja said. “I’m here to help people fulfill their dreams and their fantasies, and that’s just who I try to be.”
The store is located at 6609 Telegraph Road in Dearborn Heights, and is open 12-8 p.m. every day.
Contact Natalie Davies at ndavies@freepress.com.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: One year after ‘retro adult boutique’ transition, this Michigan video store is thriving
Reporting by Natalie Davies, Detroit Free Press / Detroit Free Press
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