Current and long-term obligations (Details) (USD $)	9 Months Ended			0 Months Ended		9 Months Ended	12 Months Ended	9 Months Ended	12 Months Ended											9 Months Ended													1 Months Ended	9 Months Ended	12 Months Ended					1 Months Ended	9 Months Ended		4 Months Ended	9 Months Ended
	Nov. 02, 2012	Oct. 28, 2011	Feb. 03, 2012	Oct. 09, 2012 Credit Facilities	Nov. 02, 2012 Credit Facilities	Nov. 02, 2012 Credit Facilities LIBOR loans	Feb. 03, 2012 Credit Facilities LIBOR loans	Nov. 02, 2012 Credit Facilities Base-rate loans	Feb. 03, 2012 Credit Facilities Base-rate loans	Nov. 02, 2012 Senior secured term loan facility	Feb. 03, 2012 Senior secured term loan facility	Nov. 02, 2012 Senior secured term loan facility LIBOR loans	Feb. 03, 2012 Senior secured term loan facility LIBOR loans	Nov. 02, 2012 Senior secured term loan facility Base-rate loans	Feb. 03, 2012 Senior secured term loan facility Base-rate loans	Nov. 02, 2012 Senior secured term loan facility, maturity July 6, 2014	Feb. 03, 2012 Senior secured term loan facility, maturity July 6, 2014	Nov. 02, 2012 Senior secured term loan facility, maturity July 6, 2017	Mar. 30, 2012 Senior secured term loan facility, maturity July 6, 2017	Nov. 02, 2012 ABL Facility	Mar. 15, 2012 ABL Facility	Feb. 03, 2012 ABL Facility	Nov. 02, 2012 ABL Facility LIBOR loans	Feb. 03, 2012 ABL Facility LIBOR loans	Nov. 02, 2012 ABL Facility Base-rate loans	Feb. 03, 2012 ABL Facility Base-rate loans	Nov. 02, 2012 ABL Facility Letters of credit	Mar. 15, 2012 ABL Facility Letters of credit	Feb. 03, 2012 ABL Facility Letters of credit	Feb. 03, 2012 ABL Facility Last out tranche	Feb. 03, 2012 ABL Facility Last out tranche LIBOR loans	Feb. 03, 2012 ABL Facility Last out tranche Base-rate loans	Aug. 03, 2012 11.875%/12.625% Senior Subordinated Notes due July 15, 2017	Nov. 02, 2012 11.875%/12.625% Senior Subordinated Notes due July 15, 2017	Feb. 03, 2012 11.875%/12.625% Senior Subordinated Notes due July 15, 2017	Nov. 02, 2012 Capital lease obligations	Feb. 03, 2012 Capital lease obligations	Nov. 02, 2012 Tax increment financing due February 1, 2035	Feb. 03, 2012 Tax increment financing due February 1, 2035	Aug. 03, 2012 4.125% Senior Notes due July 15, 2017	Nov. 02, 2012 4.125% Senior Notes due July 15, 2017	Jul. 12, 2012 4.125% Senior Notes due July 15, 2017	Jul. 29, 2011 10.625% senior notes due 2015	Oct. 28, 2011 10.625% senior notes due 2015
Current and long-term obligations
Current and long-term obligations	$ 3,024,258,000		$ 2,618,481,000													$ 1,083,800,000	$ 1,963,500,000	$ 879,700,000	$ 879,700,000	$ 538,300,000		$ 184,700,000													$ 450,697,000	$ 7,963,000	$ 5,089,000	$ 14,495,000	$ 14,495,000		$ 500,000,000
Less: current portion	(891,000)		(590,000)
Long-term portion	3,023,367,000		2,617,891,000
Maximum financing under credit agreements					3,160,000,000															1,200,000,000	1,200,000,000						350,000,000	350,000,000		101,000,000
Debt issue cost capitalized																			5,200,000		2,700,000																					7,300,000
Amendment fees					1,700,000
Incremental financing under the credit agreement for repurchase, redemption or acquisition of capital stock				250,000,000
Write off of portion of deferred debt issue cost associated with amendment																				1,600,000
Variable rate basis						LIBOR	LIBOR	Base Rate	Base Rate
Spread on variable rate (as a percent)												2.75%	2.75%	1.75%	1.75%								1.75%	1.50%	0.75%	0.50%					2.25%	1.25%
Effective Interest rate (as a percent)										3.00%	3.10%
Letters of credit outstanding																											41,100,000		38,400,000
Borrowing availability under credit facility																				620,600,000		807,900,000
Principal amount																																								500,000,000
Stated interest rate (as a percent)																																									4.125%	4.125%	10.625%
Redemption price as a percentage of principal amount																																									101.00%
Principal amount of notes repurchased																																	450,700,000										864,300,000
Stated interest rate, minimum (as a percent)																																	11.875%		11.875%
Stated interest rate, maximum (as a percent)																																	12.625%		12.625%
Loss on debt retirement, net	30,620,000	60,303,000																																29,000,000										60,300,000
Scheduled debt maturities including capital lease obligations
2014	1,600,000,000
After 2016	$ 1,400,000,000