Summary of Significant Accounting Policies (Narrative) (Details)	12 Months Ended
	Feb. 03, 2018 USD ($) distribution_center stores warehouse segment state office shares	Jan. 28, 2017 USD ($) stores shares	Jan. 30, 2016 USD ($) shares	Feb. 04, 2018 USD ($)	Jan. 29, 2017 USD ($)	Jan. 31, 2015 USD ($)
Summary Of Significant Accounting Policies [Line Items]
Number of reportable segments | segment	1
Purchase obligations	$ 2,700,000,000
Fair value of cash and cash equivalents considered as Level 1 inputs	$ 1,290,294,000	$ 1,111,599,000	$ 761,602,000			$ 696,608,000
Packaway inventory, storage period, less than	6 months
Depreciation and amortization expense on property and equipment	$ 313,163,000	302,515,000	274,828,000
Capitalized interest	710,000	26,000	6,530,000
Asset impairment charges	0	0	0
Lease loss liability	$ 600,000	$ 1,200,000
Closed stores during period | stores	7	6
Book cash overdrafts	$ 74,500,000	$ 96,300,000
Advertising costs	$ 76,400,000	$ 73,000,000	$ 77,100,000
Anti-dilutive weighted average shares excluded from EPS calculation (in shares) | shares	2,800	2,500	25,000
Effect on retained earnings due to topic 606	$ 2,071,400,000	$ 1,801,138,000
Total minimum lease payments	3,656,952,000
Accounting Standards Update 2016-09
Summary Of Significant Accounting Policies [Line Items]
Excess tax benefits related to stock-based compensation	16,300,000
Cumulative effect of adoption of accounting standard	676,000
Accounting Standards Update 2016-09 | Retained earnings
Summary Of Significant Accounting Policies [Line Items]
Cumulative effect of adoption of accounting standard	(1,113,000)				$ (1,100,000)
Difference between Revenue Guidance in Effect before and after Topic 606 | Subsequent Event | Accounting Standards Update 2014-09
Summary Of Significant Accounting Policies [Line Items]
Effect on retained earnings due to topic 606				$ 20,000,000
Property, Plant and Equipment
Summary Of Significant Accounting Policies [Line Items]
Property and equipment purchased but not yet paid	$ 24,300,000	$ 25,700,000	$ 35,800,000
Minimum | Equipment
Summary Of Significant Accounting Policies [Line Items]
Property and equipment estimated useful life, straight-line method	3 years
Minimum | Land Improvements and Buildings
Summary Of Significant Accounting Policies [Line Items]
Property and equipment estimated useful life, straight-line method	20 years
Maximum | Equipment
Summary Of Significant Accounting Policies [Line Items]
Property and equipment estimated useful life, straight-line method	12 years
Maximum | Land Improvements and Buildings
Summary Of Significant Accounting Policies [Line Items]
Property and equipment estimated useful life, straight-line method	40 years
Ross Dress For Less
Summary Of Significant Accounting Policies [Line Items]
Number of stores | stores	1,409
Number of states company operates in | state	37
dd's Discounts
Summary Of Significant Accounting Policies [Line Items]
Number of stores | stores	213
Number of states company operates in | state	16
Ross and dd's DISCOUNTS stores
Summary Of Significant Accounting Policies [Line Items]
Number of distribution centers | distribution_center	6
California
Summary Of Significant Accounting Policies [Line Items]
Number of distribution centers | distribution_center	3
Number of buying offices | office	1
Number of warehouses | warehouse	2
Stores as percentage of total	23.00%