Summary of Significant Accounting Policies (Narrative) (Details)	12 Months Ended
	Feb. 02, 2019 USD ($) distribution_center stores segment warehouse state store office shares	Feb. 03, 2018 USD ($) stores shares	Jan. 28, 2017 USD ($) shares		Feb. 03, 2019 USD ($)	Jan. 29, 2017 USD ($)
Summary Of Significant Accounting Policies [Line Items]
Number of reportable segments | segment	1
Purchase obligations	$ 2,600,000,000
Fair value of cash and cash equivalents considered as Level 1 inputs	$ 1,412,912,000	$ 1,290,294,000	$ 1,111,599,000
Packaway inventory, storage period, less than	6 months
Depreciation and amortization expense on property and equipment	$ 330,357,000	313,163,000	302,515,000	[1]
Capitalized interest	2,497,000	710,000	26,000
Asset impairment charges	0	0	0
Lease loss liability	$ 200,000	$ 600,000
Closed stores during period | stores	4	7
Book cash overdrafts	$ 83,200,000	$ 74,500,000
Expected recovery of merchandise inventory	10,200,000
Refund due to customers	19,800,000
Allowance for sales return		9,900,000	8,400,000
Advertising costs	$ 79,900,000	$ 76,400,000	$ 73,000,000
Anti-dilutive weighted average shares excluded from EPS calculation (in shares) | shares	23,700	2,800	2,500
Accounting Standards Update 2016-02 | Retained earnings
Summary Of Significant Accounting Policies [Line Items]
Cumulative effect of adoption of accounting standard					$ 20,000,000
Accounting Standards Update 2016-09
Summary Of Significant Accounting Policies [Line Items]
Cumulative effect of adoption of accounting standard						$ (676,000)
Excess tax benefits related to stock-based compensation	$ 12,600,000	$ 16,300,000
Accounting Standards Update 2016-09 | Retained earnings
Summary Of Significant Accounting Policies [Line Items]
Cumulative effect of adoption of accounting standard						$ 1,113,000
Subsequent Event | Accounting Standards Update 2016-02
Summary Of Significant Accounting Policies [Line Items]
Operating lease liability					2,900,000,000
Right-of-use asset					$ 2,900,000,000
Property, Plant and Equipment
Summary Of Significant Accounting Policies [Line Items]
Property and equipment purchased but not yet paid	$ 33,700,000	$ 24,300,000	$ 25,700,000
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
Minimum | Computer Software
Summary Of Significant Accounting Policies [Line Items]
Property and equipment estimated useful life, straight-line method	3 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
Maximum | Computer Software
Summary Of Significant Accounting Policies [Line Items]
Property and equipment estimated useful life, straight-line method	7 years
Ross Dress For Less
Summary Of Significant Accounting Policies [Line Items]
Number of stores | stores	1,480
Number of states company operates in | state	38
dd's Discounts
Summary Of Significant Accounting Policies [Line Items]
Number of stores | store	237
Number of states company operates in | state	18
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	3
Stores as percentage of total	23.00%

[1] As the result of the adoption of ASU 2016-18, Statement of Cash Flow (Topic 230): Restricted Cash, the prior year amounts were retrospectively adjusted to include restricted cash and cash equivalents. See Note A.