Quarterly financial data (unaudited) (Detail) $ / shares in Units, $ in Thousands	3 Months Ended								12 Months Ended
	Jan. 29, 2016 USD ($) item $ / shares	Oct. 30, 2015 USD ($) item $ / shares	Jul. 31, 2015 USD ($) item $ / shares	May. 01, 2015 USD ($) item $ / shares	Jan. 30, 2015 USD ($) item $ / shares	Oct. 31, 2014 USD ($) item $ / shares	Aug. 01, 2014 USD ($) item $ / shares	May. 02, 2014 USD ($) item $ / shares	Jan. 29, 2016 USD ($) item $ / shares	Jan. 30, 2015 USD ($) item $ / shares	Jan. 31, 2014 USD ($) item $ / shares
Selected unaudited quarterly financial data
Number of weeks in a quarter | item	13	13	13	13	13	13	13	13
Number of quarters in a year | item									4	4	4
Net sales	$ 5,286,938	$ 5,067,048	$ 5,095,904	$ 4,918,672	$ 4,939,059	$ 4,724,409	$ 4,724,039	$ 4,522,081	$ 20,368,562	$ 18,909,588	$ 17,504,167
Gross profit	1,682,269	1,536,962	1,588,155	1,498,705	1,565,439	1,423,748	1,455,574	1,357,746	6,306,091	5,802,507	5,435,742
Operating profit	612,429	423,859	475,812	428,194	566,716	394,143	428,526	379,708	1,940,294	1,769,093	1,736,185
Net income	$ 376,175	$ 253,321	$ 282,349	$ 253,235	$ 355,371	$ 236,316	$ 251,260	$ 222,398	$ 1,165,080	$ 1,065,345	$ 1,025,116
Basic earnings per share (in dollars per share) | $ / shares	$ 1.30	$ 0.87	$ 0.95	$ 0.84	$ 1.17	$ 0.78	$ 0.83	$ 0.72	$ 3.96	$ 3.50	$ 3.17
Diluted earnings per share (in dollars per share) | $ / shares	$ 1.30	$ 0.86	$ 0.95	$ 0.84	$ 1.17	$ 0.78	$ 0.83	$ 0.72	$ 3.95	$ 3.49	$ 3.17
Restructuring Charges		$ 6,100							$ 6,100
Restructuring charges, net of tax		$ 3,700
Effect of pre-tax restructuring charges on earnings per diluted share (in dollars per share) | $ / shares		$ 0.01
Attempted acquisition, Transaction Costs					$ 6,100	$ 8,200
Attempted acquisition, related expenses, net of tax					$ 1,300	$ 7,400
Effect of pre-tax expenses incurred from attempted acquisition activities on earnings per diluted share (in dollars per share) | $ / shares					$ 0.00	$ 0.02