Document and Entity Information - shares	3 Months Ended
	May 05, 2018	Jun. 08, 2018
Entity Registrant Name	FREDS INC
Entity Central Index Key	0000724571
Document Type	10-Q
Trading Symbol	FRED
Document Period End Date	May 05, 2018
Amendment Flag	false
Current Fiscal Year End Date	--02-02
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	2019
Common Class A [Member]
Entity Common Stock, Shares Outstanding		37,260,158
Nonvoting Common Class B [Member]
Entity Common Stock, Shares Outstanding		0