DOCUMENT AND ENITY INFORMATION	3 Months Ended
	May 04, 2013	Jun. 07, 2013
Entity Registrant Name	FREDS INC
Entity Central Index Key	0000724571
Current Fiscal Year End Date	--02-01
Entity Filer Category	Accelerated Filer
Trading Symbol	FRED
Entity Common Stock Shares Outstanding		36,692,361
Document Type	10-Q
Amendment Flag	false
Document Period End Date	May 04, 2013
Document Fiscal Period Focus	Q1
Document Fiscal Year Focus	2013