Document and Entity Information - shares	3 Months Ended
	Apr. 29, 2017	Jun. 02, 2017
Entity Registrant Name	FREDS INC
Entity Central Index Key	0000724571
Document Type	10-Q
Trading Symbol	FRED
Document Period End Date	Apr. 29, 2017
Amendment Flag	false
Current Fiscal Year End Date	--02-03
Entity a Well-known Seasoned Issuer	No
Entity a Voluntary Filer	No
Entity's Reporting Status Current	Yes
Entity Filer Category	Accelerated Filer
Document Fiscal Period Focus	Q1
Document Fiscal Year Focus	2017
Common Class A [Member]
Entity Common Stock, Shares Outstanding		38,051,142
Nonvoting Common Class B [Member]
Entity Common Stock, Shares Outstanding		0