Current and long-term obligations (Details) (USD $)	3 Months Ended			3 Months Ended						3 Months Ended				3 Months Ended			3 Months Ended	0 Months Ended			0 Months Ended		0 Months Ended		3 Months Ended
	May 03, 2013	May 04, 2012	Feb. 01, 2013	May 03, 2013 Senior unsecured credit facilities, maturity April 11, 2018 item	May 03, 2013 Senior unsecured credit facilities, maturity April 11, 2018 LIBOR loans	May 03, 2013 Senior unsecured credit facilities, maturity April 11, 2018 Base-rate loans	May 03, 2013 Senior unsecured credit facility, maturity April 11, 2018, Term Facility	May 03, 2013 Senior unsecured credit facility, maturity April 11, 2018, Revolving Facility	May 03, 2013 Senior unsecured credit facility, maturity April 11, 2018, Revolving Facility Letters of credit	May 03, 2013 Previous 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	Mar. 30, 2012 Senior secured term loan facility, maturity July 6, 2017	May 04, 2012 ABL Facility	Feb. 01, 2013 ABL Facility	Mar. 15, 2012 ABL Facility	May 03, 2013 Senior notes	Jul. 12, 2012 4.125% Senior Notes due July 15, 2017	May 03, 2013 4.125% Senior Notes due July 15, 2017	Feb. 01, 2013 4.125% Senior Notes due July 15, 2017	Apr. 11, 2013 1.875% Senior Notes due April 15, 2018	May 03, 2013 1.875% Senior Notes due April 15, 2018	Apr. 11, 2013 3.25% Senior Notes due April 15, 2023	May 03, 2013 3.25% Senior Notes due April 15, 2023	May 03, 2013 2018 and 2023 Senior Notes	Apr. 11, 2013 2018 and 2023 Senior Notes	May 03, 2013 Capital lease obligations	Feb. 01, 2013 Capital lease obligations	May 03, 2013 Tax increment financing due February 1, 2035	Feb. 01, 2013 Tax increment financing due February 1, 2035
Current and long-term obligations
Current and long-term obligations	$ 2,836,212,000		$ 2,772,228,000				$ 1,000,000,000	$ 17,000,000			$ 1,083,800,000	$ 879,700,000			$ 286,500,000				$ 500,000,000	$ 500,000,000		$ 399,551,000		$ 897,650,000			$ 7,516,000	$ 7,733,000	$ 14,495,000	$ 14,495,000
Less: current portion	(909,000)		(892,000)
Long-term portion	2,835,303,000		2,771,336,000
Credit agreement term				5 years
Maximum financing under credit agreements				1,850,000,000				850,000,000	250,000,000
Minimum number of lenders in agreement required for debt increase				1
Discount on debt issuance																					500,000	449,000	2,400,000	2,350,000	2,800,000
Increased facilities subject to agreement				150,000,000
Debt issue cost capitalized				5,900,000									5,200,000			2,700,000										10,000,000
Amount borrowed							1,000,000,000											500,000,000			400,000,000		900,000,000		1,300,000,000
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)				1.56%
Amount of quarterly installments							25,000,000
Letters of credit outstanding									46,300,000
Borrowing availability under credit facility								786,700,000
Pretax loss for the write off of a portion of existing debt issuance costs	$ 18,871,000	$ 1,629,000								$ 18,900,000				$ 1,600,000
Redemption price as a percentage of principal amount																	101.00%