Segment reporting (Details) $ in Thousands	3 Months Ended								12 Months Ended
	Jan. 29, 2021 USD ($)	Oct. 30, 2020 USD ($)	Jul. 31, 2020 USD ($)	May 01, 2020 USD ($)	Jan. 31, 2020 USD ($)	Nov. 01, 2019 USD ($)	Aug. 02, 2019 USD ($)	May 03, 2019 USD ($)	Jan. 29, 2021 USD ($) segment	Jan. 31, 2020 USD ($) segment	Feb. 01, 2019 USD ($) segment
Net sales data for classes of similar products
Net sales	$ 8,414,524	$ 8,199,625	$ 8,684,241	$ 8,448,449	$ 7,157,642	$ 6,991,393	$ 6,981,753	$ 6,623,185	$ 33,746,839	$ 27,753,973	$ 25,625,043
Number of reportable segments
Number of reportable operating segments | segment									1	1	1
Consumables
Net sales data for classes of similar products
Net sales									$ 25,906,685	$ 21,635,890	$ 19,865,086
Seasonal
Net sales data for classes of similar products
Net sales									4,083,650	3,258,874	3,050,282
Home products
Net sales data for classes of similar products
Net sales									2,209,950	1,611,899	1,506,054
Apparel
Net sales data for classes of similar products
Net sales									$ 1,546,554	$ 1,247,310	$ 1,203,621