Pepco, Poundland and Dealz, Pepco Group Chief Executive Andy Bond told Reuters he hass plans to create about 13,000 net new jobs across Europe over the next three years as it aggressively opens new stores.

The majority of the new jobs would be in continental Europe, as it bets that shoppers will demand cheaper stores following the devastation of the pandemic and as people search for bargains amid inflation, said Bond.

Pepco is heading towards opening new stores, while many European retailers have shifted operations online, shut stores and cut jobs to survive COVID-19.

“Unlike many bricks and mortar retailers which are all about stories of ‘haven’t we done a good job where we’re staying alive’, we’re very confident about our growth,” Bond, a former boss of British supermarket chain Asda, said.

Bond has said Pepco could take advantage from inflationary pressure as people become more price-sensitive.

Pepco Group, which listed on the Warsaw stock market in May and now has a 6.9 billion euro ($8.13 billion) valuation, currently employs around 35,000, trading from about 3,400 stores in 16 countries. It will start trading in its 17th, Austria, in September.

The group is targeting more than 1 billion euros in core earnings within five to seven years. In June it reported first-half underlying earnings of 324 million euros, up 16.8 percent.