Sunrise, Fla.-based Baby Love, started in 1973 by the Komroff family, will be moving from its 52,000-square-foot store to a 68,000-square-foot location in Tamarac, Fla., later this year.

Owner Peter Komroff said his lease renewal is coming up at the current location and the opportunity to move to a bigger footprint became available.

The new location needs a lot of renovation, but Komroff said they expect to be relocated and open for business sometime this summer. The building used to be a home improvement store and it includes about 4,500 square feet of patio area. Komroff will use this area to get back into the Little Tykes and Step 2 business, he said. As for the other additional square footage, the plan is to bring in even more product across the board, expanding on Baby Love's current 50,000-item selection.

“Some people say we're nuts to be doing this at this time,” Komroff said. “But you have to keep moving forward. It's an investment. If you just do what you did last year, you won't increase your business.”

Baby Love saw a 5% sales increase in 2007.

Baby Love also is hosting an in-store event later this month with “Baby Bargains” author Alan Fields. Komroff looks for the book signing and sale event to bring a lot of traffic into the store.

The retailer also was recently recognized by South Florida Parenting magazine as the best local furniture store.