Current and long-term obligations (Details) (USD $)	12 Months Ended			0 Months Ended		12 Months Ended								3 Months Ended	12 Months Ended				12 Months Ended													0 Months Ended	3 Months Ended	12 Months Ended
	Jan. 31, 2014	Feb. 01, 2013	Feb. 03, 2012	Apr. 11, 2013 Senior unsecured credit facilities, maturity April 11, 2018 item	Jan. 31, 2014 Senior unsecured credit facilities, maturity April 11, 2018	Jan. 31, 2014 Senior unsecured credit facilities, maturity April 11, 2018 LIBOR loans	Jan. 31, 2014 Senior unsecured credit facilities, maturity April 11, 2018 Base-rate loans	Jan. 31, 2014 Senior unsecured credit facility, maturity April 11, 2018, Term Facility	Apr. 11, 2013 Senior unsecured credit facility, maturity April 11, 2018, Term Facility	Jan. 31, 2014 Senior unsecured credit facility, maturity April 11, 2018, Revolving Facility	Apr. 11, 2013 Senior unsecured credit facility, maturity April 11, 2018, Revolving Facility	Jan. 31, 2014 Senior unsecured credit facility, maturity April 11, 2018, Revolving Facility Letters of credit	Apr. 11, 2013 Senior unsecured credit facility, maturity April 11, 2018, Revolving Facility Letters of credit	May 03, 2013 Previous Senior Secured Credit Facilities	Jan. 31, 2014 Previous Senior Secured Credit Facilities	Feb. 01, 2013 Senior secured term loan facility, maturity July 6, 2014	Feb. 01, 2013 Senior secured term loan facility, maturity July 6, 2017	Feb. 01, 2013 ABL Facility	Jan. 31, 2014 Senior notes	Jan. 31, 2014 4.125% Senior Notes due July 15, 2017	Feb. 01, 2013 4.125% Senior Notes due July 15, 2017	Jul. 12, 2012 4.125% Senior Notes due July 15, 2017	Jan. 31, 2014 1.875% Senior Notes due April 15, 2018	Apr. 11, 2013 1.875% Senior Notes due April 15, 2018	Jan. 31, 2014 3.25% Senior Notes due April 15, 2023	Apr. 11, 2013 3.25% Senior Notes due April 15, 2023	Apr. 11, 2013 2018 and 2023 Senior Notes	Jan. 31, 2014 Capital lease obligations	Feb. 01, 2013 Capital lease obligations	Jan. 31, 2014 Tax increment financing due February 1, 2035	Feb. 01, 2013 Tax increment financing due February 1, 2035	Jul. 15, 2012 Senior subordinated notes due 2017	Aug. 03, 2012 Senior subordinated notes due 2017	Feb. 01, 2013 Senior subordinated notes due 2017	Feb. 03, 2012 Senior notes due 2015
Current and long-term obligations
Current and long-term obligations	$ 2,818,754,000	$ 2,772,228,000						$ 1,000,000,000								$ 1,083,800,000	$ 879,700,000	$ 286,500,000		$ 500,000,000	$ 500,000,000		$ 399,617,000		$ 897,801,000			$ 6,841,000	$ 7,733,000	$ 14,495,000	$ 14,495,000
Less: current portion	(75,966,000)	(892,000)
Long-term portion	2,742,788,000	2,771,336,000
Credit agreement term				5 years
Maximum financing under credit agreements											850,000,000		250,000,000
Minimum number of lenders in agreement required for debt increase				1
Discount on debt issuance																							383,000	500,000	2,199,000	2,400,000
Increased facilities subject to agreement				150,000,000
Debt issue cost capitalized				5,900,000																							10,100,000
Amount borrowed									1,000,000,000													500,000,000		400,000,000		900,000,000
Stated interest rate (as a percent)																				4.125%	4.125%	4.125%	1.875%	1.875%	3.25%	3.25%
Variable rate basis						LIBOR	Base Rate
Spread on variable rate (as a percent)						1.275%	0.275%
Weighted average interest rate (as a percent)					1.46%
Amount of quarterly installments beginning August 1, 2014								25,000,000
Letters of credit outstanding	49,900,000											27,200,000
Borrowing availability under credit facility										822,800,000
Redemption price as a percentage of principal amount																			101.00%
Principal amount of notes repurchased																																450,700,000			864,300,000
Loss on debt retirement, net	18,871,000	30,620,000	60,303,000											18,900,000	18,900,000																		29,000,000	29,000,000	60,300,000
Scheduled debt maturities including capital lease obligations
2014	75,966,000
2015	101,158,000
2016	101,379,000
2017	601,290,000
2018	1,025,892,000
Thereafter	$ 915,651,000