Quarterly financial data (unaudited) (Details) (USD $)	3 Months Ended								12 Months Ended			0 Months Ended	3 Months Ended	12 Months Ended	3 Months Ended		4 Months Ended	12 Months Ended	3 Months Ended
	Feb. 01, 2013 week	Nov. 02, 2012 week	Aug. 03, 2012 week	May 04, 2012 week	Feb. 03, 2012 week	Oct. 28, 2011 week	Jul. 29, 2011 week	Apr. 29, 2011 week	Feb. 01, 2013 quarter	Feb. 03, 2012 quarter	Jan. 28, 2011 quarter	Jul. 15, 2012 11.875%/12.625% Senior Subordinated Notes due July 15, 2017	Aug. 03, 2012 11.875%/12.625% Senior Subordinated Notes due July 15, 2017	Feb. 01, 2013 11.875%/12.625% Senior Subordinated Notes due July 15, 2017	Jul. 29, 2011 10.625% senior notes due 2015	Apr. 29, 2011 10.625% senior notes due 2015	Jul. 29, 2011 10.625% senior notes due 2015	Feb. 03, 2012 10.625% senior notes due 2015	Apr. 29, 2011 10.625% senior notes due 2015 Less than
Selected unaudited quarterly financial data
Number of weeks in a quarter	13	13	13	13	14	13	13	13
Number of quarters in a year									4	4	4
Net sales	$ 4,207,621,000	$ 3,964,647,000	$ 3,948,655,000	$ 3,901,205,000	$ 4,185,073,000	$ 3,595,224,000	$ 3,575,194,000	$ 3,451,697,000	$ 16,022,128,000	$ 14,807,188,000	$ 13,035,000,000
Gross profit	1,367,799,000	1,226,123,000	1,263,223,000	1,228,256,000	1,346,369,000	1,115,802,000	1,148,342,000	1,087,397,000	5,085,401,000	4,697,910,000	4,176,556,000
Operating profit	522,349,000	361,389,000	387,214,000	384,324,000	508,240,000	310,917,000	350,029,000	321,618,000	1,655,276,000	1,490,804,000	1,274,065,000
Net income	317,422,000	207,685,000	214,140,000	213,415,000	292,510,000	171,164,000	146,042,000	156,969,000	952,662,000	766,685,000	627,857,000
Basic earnings per share (in dollars per share)	$ 0.97	$ 0.62	$ 0.64	$ 0.64	$ 0.86	$ 0.50	$ 0.43	$ 0.46	$ 2.87	$ 2.25	$ 1.84
Diluted earnings per share (in dollars per share)	$ 0.97	$ 0.62	$ 0.64	$ 0.63	$ 0.85	$ 0.50	$ 0.42	$ 0.45	$ 2.85	$ 2.22	$ 1.82
Principal amount of notes repurchased												450,700,000	450,700,000		839,300,000	25,000,000	864,300,000
Loss on debt retirement, net									30,620,000	60,303,000	14,576,000		29,000,000	29,000,000	58,100,000	2,200,000		60,300,000
Loss on debt retirement, net of tax													17,700,000		35,400,000	1,300,000
Share-based compensation expenses					8,600,000				21,664,000	23,981,000	30,171,000
Share-based compensation expenses, net of tax					$ 5,300,000				$ 13,200,000	$ 14,604,000	$ 18,393,000
Effect of pretax loss on debt retirement on earnings per diluted share (in dollars per share)													$ 0.05		$ 0.10				$ 0.01
Effect of share-based compensation expenses on earnings per diluted share (in dollars per share)					$ 0.02