Interim Financial Statements	3 Months Ended
Interim Financial Statements	Apr. 30, 2011
Interim Financial Statements [Abstract]
Interim Financial Statements	1. Interim Financial Statements The accompanying Consolidated Financial Statements of American Eagle Outfitters, Inc. (the “Company”) at April 30, 2011 and May 1, 2010 and for the 13 week periods ended April 30, 2011 and May 1, 2010 have been prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (“GAAP”) for interim financial information and with the instructions to Form 10-Q and Article 10 of Regulation S-X. Accordingly, they do not include all of the information and footnotes required by GAAP for complete financial statements. Certain notes and other information have been condensed or omitted from the interim Consolidated Financial Statements presented in this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q. Therefore, these Consolidated Financial Statements should be read in conjunction with the Company’s Fiscal 2010 Annual Report. In the opinion of the Company’s management, all adjustments (consisting of normal recurring adjustments and those described in the footnotes that follow) considered necessary for a fair presentation have been included. As used in this report, all references to “we,” “our” and the “Company” refer to American Eagle Outfitters, Inc. and its wholly owned subsidiaries. “American Eagle Outfitters,” “American Eagle,” “AE” and the “AE Brand” refer to our U.S. and Canadian American Eagle Outfitters stores. “aerie” refers to our U.S. and Canadian aerie^® by American Eagle^® stores. “77kids” refers to our 77kids by american eagle^{^®}stores. “AEO Direct” refers to our e-commerce operations, ae.com, aerie.com and 77kids.com. “MARTIN+OSA” or “M+O” refers to the MARTIN+OSA stores and e-commerce operation which we operated until its closure during the second quarter of Fiscal 2010. The Company’s business is affected by the pattern of seasonality common to most retail apparel businesses. The results for the current and prior periods are not necessarily indicative of future financial results.

Description containing the entire organization, consolidation and basis of presentation of financial statements disclosure. May be provided in more than one note to the financial statements, as long as users are provided with an understanding of (1) the significant judgments and assumptions made by an enterprise in determining whether it must consolidate a VIE and/or disclose information about its involvement with a VIE, (2) the nature of restrictions on a consolidated VIE's assets reported by an enterprise in its statement of financial position, including the carrying amounts of such assets, (3) the nature of, and changes in, the risks associated with an enterprise's involvement with the VIE, and (4) how an enterprise's involvement with the VIE affects the enterprise's financial position, financial performance, and cash flows. Describes procedure if disclosures are provided in more than one note to the financial statements.

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