Heritage Close is a short brick-paved walk off St Albans High Street, and the red fascia with gold lettering at number 21 gives Empire Records away long before you reach the door. Sleeves are propped in brightly painted crates across both windows, and behind them is a room that has kept the city in vinyl and CDs since 2013.
Background / History
Empire Records opened in 2013, a few doors along from Chaos City Comics, the award-winning comic shop that has traded in the same courtyard since 1991. The two remain part of one family business, run by Marina De Sclavis, and the record shop has kept a remarkably settled team. Dave Burgess has managed it since the doors first opened, and assistant manager Eddie James has been behind the counter for over a decade, with a personal collection of more than eleven thousand records to show for it.
What You’ll Find
New and second-hand vinyl share the floor, the browsers clearly labelled so you know which you are working through, and CDs fill a wall of racks in a quantity that rewards anyone building a physical library on a budget. The genre spread is deliberately broad: rock and pop, jazz, classical, blues, folk, country, hip hop, metal, punk, reggae and ska, and soul, funk and disco, with boxes of Irish music and classical LPs beneath the bins. Fresh stock lands almost every day, and collections bought over the counter keep the used racks turning over. Anything not in stock can be ordered through the shop’s accounts with the major suppliers. Gift vouchers are available, Record Tokens are accepted, and the shop trades online through Discogs as EmpireStAlbans.
Experience / Atmosphere
Deep red walls carry album sleeves mounted on wood panelling, colour-coded browsers run down the centre of the room, and storage cases and turntable accessories sit on the shelving beneath, so the layout reads at a glance. The staff are approachable and properly knowledgeable, happy to talk pressings, chase something down or leave you to browse at your own pace. Record Store Day is the highlight of the year, with people setting up outside from three o’clock on the Friday afternoon and queuing overnight; in 2024 the Kate Bush ambassador ten-inch sold out within the first hour. National Album Day is marked here each autumn too.
Why Visit
- Wide stock of new and second-hand vinyl and CDs, from classical and folk through to death metal and hip hop
- Daily arrivals and regularly bought-in collections, so the racks look different between visits
- Long-serving staff, including a manager who has been there since the shop opened
- Special ordering through accounts with all the major suppliers
- One of Hertfordshire’s most committed Record Store Day shops, with overnight queues and a real sense of occasion
- Gift vouchers and Record Tokens accepted, and a long-established comic shop from the same family a few doors along
Summary
Over a decade in, Empire Records shows how much one well-run room can do for a city’s listening habits. The range is wide enough for a first LP and deep enough to lose an afternoon to, and the people behind the counter are more interested in the right record than the dearest one. A few minutes from the Cathedral and the market square, it makes for an easy hour in St Albans.
