Financial Instruments (Details) In Thousands, unless otherwise specified	3 Months Ended						3 Months Ended																																						3 Months Ended
	Apr. 30, 2011 USD ($)	May 01, 2010 USD ($)	Apr. 30, 2011 Diesel fuel contracts [Member] Cost of sales, including buying and occupancy costs [Member] Hedge accounting not elected [Member] USD ($)	May 01, 2010 Diesel fuel contracts [Member] Cost of sales, including buying and occupancy costs [Member] Hedge accounting not elected [Member] USD ($)	Apr. 30, 2011 Hedge accounting not elected [Member] Diesel fuel contracts [Member] Prepaid Expense [Member] USD ($)	May 01, 2010 Hedge accounting not elected [Member] Diesel fuel contracts [Member] Prepaid Expense [Member] USD ($)	Apr. 30, 2011 Merchandise purchase commitments [Member] Cost of sales, including buying and occupancy costs [Member] Hedge accounting not elected [Member] USD ($)	May 01, 2010 Merchandise purchase commitments [Member] Cost of sales, including buying and occupancy costs [Member] Hedge accounting not elected [Member] USD ($)	Apr. 30, 2011 Hedge accounting not elected [Member] Merchandise purchase commitments [Member] Prepaid Expense [Member] Conversion Of Euro To US Dollar [Member] USD ($)	Apr. 30, 2011 Hedge accounting not elected [Member] Merchandise purchase commitments [Member] Prepaid Expense [Member] Conversion Of Euro to Pound [Member] USD ($)	Apr. 30, 2011 Hedge accounting not elected [Member] Merchandise purchase commitments [Member] Prepaid Expense [Member] Conversion of Canadian Dollar to Euro [Member] USD ($)	May 01, 2010 Hedge accounting not elected [Member] Merchandise purchase commitments [Member] Prepaid Expense [Member] Conversion of Canadian Dollar to Euro [Member] USD ($)	Apr. 30, 2011 Hedge accounting not elected [Member] Merchandise purchase commitments [Member] Prepaid Expense [Member] Conversion of US Dollar to Euro [Member] USD ($)	May 01, 2010 Hedge accounting not elected [Member] Merchandise purchase commitments [Member] Prepaid Expense [Member] Conversion of US Dollar to Euro [Member] USD ($)	Apr. 30, 2011 Hedge accounting not elected [Member] Merchandise purchase commitments [Member] Prepaid Expense [Member] Conversion of Pound to Euro [Member] USD ($)	May 01, 2010 Hedge accounting not elected [Member] Merchandise purchase commitments [Member] Prepaid Expense [Member] Conversion of Pound to Euro [Member] USD ($)	Apr. 30, 2011 Hedge accounting not elected [Member] Merchandise purchase commitments [Member] Prepaid Expense [Member] Conversion of Pound to US Dollar [Member] USD ($)	May 01, 2010 Hedge accounting not elected [Member] Merchandise purchase commitments [Member] Prepaid Expense [Member] Conversion of Pound to US Dollar [Member] USD ($)	Apr. 30, 2011 Hedge accounting not elected [Member] Merchandise purchase commitments [Member] Prepaid Expense [Member] Conversion of Canadian Dollar to US Dollar [Member] USD ($)	May 01, 2010 Hedge accounting not elected [Member] Merchandise purchase commitments [Member] Prepaid Expense [Member] Conversion of Canadian Dollar to US Dollar [Member] USD ($)	Apr. 30, 2011 Hedge accounting not elected [Member] Merchandise purchase commitments [Member] Conversion Of Euro To US Dollar [Member] USD ($)	Apr. 30, 2011 Hedge accounting not elected [Member] Merchandise purchase commitments [Member] Conversion Of Euro To US Dollar [Member] EUR (€)	Apr. 30, 2011 Hedge accounting not elected [Member] Merchandise purchase commitments [Member] Conversion Of Euro to Pound [Member] GBP (£)	Apr. 30, 2011 Hedge accounting not elected [Member] Merchandise purchase commitments [Member] Conversion Of Euro to Pound [Member] EUR (€)	Apr. 30, 2011 Hedge accounting not elected [Member] Merchandise purchase commitments [Member] Conversion of Canadian Dollar to Euro [Member] EUR (€)	Apr. 30, 2011 Hedge accounting not elected [Member] Merchandise purchase commitments [Member] Conversion of Canadian Dollar to Euro [Member] CAD	May 01, 2010 Hedge accounting not elected [Member] Merchandise purchase commitments [Member] Conversion of Canadian Dollar to Euro [Member] EUR (€)	May 01, 2010 Hedge accounting not elected [Member] Merchandise purchase commitments [Member] Conversion of Canadian Dollar to Euro [Member] CAD	Apr. 30, 2011 Hedge accounting not elected [Member] Merchandise purchase commitments [Member] Conversion of US Dollar to Euro [Member] USD ($)	Apr. 30, 2011 Hedge accounting not elected [Member] Merchandise purchase commitments [Member] Conversion of US Dollar to Euro [Member] EUR (€)	May 01, 2010 Hedge accounting not elected [Member] Merchandise purchase commitments [Member] Conversion of US Dollar to Euro [Member] USD ($)	May 01, 2010 Hedge accounting not elected [Member] Merchandise purchase commitments [Member] Conversion of US Dollar to Euro [Member] EUR (€)	Apr. 30, 2011 Hedge accounting not elected [Member] Merchandise purchase commitments [Member] Conversion of Pound to Euro [Member] GBP (£)	Apr. 30, 2011 Hedge accounting not elected [Member] Merchandise purchase commitments [Member] Conversion of Pound to Euro [Member] EUR (€)	May 01, 2010 Hedge accounting not elected [Member] Merchandise purchase commitments [Member] Conversion of Pound to Euro [Member] GBP (£)	May 01, 2010 Hedge accounting not elected [Member] Merchandise purchase commitments [Member] Conversion of Pound to Euro [Member] EUR (€)	Apr. 30, 2011 Hedge accounting not elected [Member] Merchandise purchase commitments [Member] Conversion of Pound to US Dollar [Member] USD ($)	Apr. 30, 2011 Hedge accounting not elected [Member] Merchandise purchase commitments [Member] Conversion of Pound to US Dollar [Member] GBP (£)	May 01, 2010 Hedge accounting not elected [Member] Merchandise purchase commitments [Member] Conversion of Pound to US Dollar [Member] USD ($)	May 01, 2010 Hedge accounting not elected [Member] Merchandise purchase commitments [Member] Conversion of Pound to US Dollar [Member] GBP (£)	Apr. 30, 2011 Hedge accounting not elected [Member] Merchandise purchase commitments [Member] Conversion of Canadian Dollar to US Dollar [Member] USD ($)	Apr. 30, 2011 Hedge accounting not elected [Member] Merchandise purchase commitments [Member] Conversion of Canadian Dollar to US Dollar [Member] CAD	May 01, 2010 Hedge accounting not elected [Member] Merchandise purchase commitments [Member] Conversion of Canadian Dollar to US Dollar [Member] USD ($)	May 01, 2010 Hedge accounting not elected [Member] Merchandise purchase commitments [Member] Conversion of Canadian Dollar to US Dollar [Member] CAD	Apr. 30, 2011 Intercompany balances hedges primarily short-term debt and related interest [Member] Selling General And Administrative Expense [Member] Fair Value Hedging [Member] USD ($)	May 01, 2010 Intercompany balances hedges primarily short-term debt and related interest [Member] Selling General And Administrative Expense [Member] Fair Value Hedging [Member] USD ($)	Apr. 30, 2011 Hedge accounting not elected [Member] Intercompany balances hedges primarily short-term debt and related interest [Member] Prepaid Expense [Member] Conversion Of US Dollar To Pound [Member] USD ($)	Apr. 30, 2011 Hedge accounting not elected [Member] Intercompany balances hedges primarily short-term debt and related interest [Member] Prepaid Expense [Member] Conversion Of Euro To US Dollar [Member] USD ($)	Apr. 30, 2011 Hedge accounting not elected [Member] Intercompany balances hedges primarily short-term debt and related interest [Member] Prepaid Expense [Member] Conversion Of Euro to Pound [Member] USD ($)	Apr. 30, 2011 Hedge accounting not elected [Member] Intercompany balances hedges primarily short-term debt and related interest [Member] Prepaid Expense [Member] Conversion Of Pound to Canadian Dollar [Member] USD ($)	Apr. 30, 2011 Hedge accounting not elected [Member] Intercompany balances hedges primarily short-term debt and related interest [Member] Conversion Of US Dollar To Pound [Member] USD ($)	Apr. 30, 2011 Hedge accounting not elected [Member] Intercompany balances hedges primarily short-term debt and related interest [Member] Conversion Of US Dollar To Pound [Member] GBP (£)	Apr. 30, 2011 Hedge accounting not elected [Member] Intercompany balances hedges primarily short-term debt and related interest [Member] Conversion Of Euro To US Dollar [Member] USD ($)	Apr. 30, 2011 Hedge accounting not elected [Member] Intercompany balances hedges primarily short-term debt and related interest [Member] Conversion Of Euro To US Dollar [Member] EUR (€)	Apr. 30, 2011 Hedge accounting not elected [Member] Intercompany balances hedges primarily short-term debt and related interest [Member] Conversion Of Euro to Pound [Member] GBP (£)	Apr. 30, 2011 Hedge accounting not elected [Member] Intercompany balances hedges primarily short-term debt and related interest [Member] Conversion Of Euro to Pound [Member] EUR (€)	Apr. 30, 2011 Hedge accounting not elected [Member] Intercompany balances hedges primarily short-term debt and related interest [Member] Conversion Of Pound to Canadian Dollar [Member] GBP (£)	Apr. 30, 2011 Hedge accounting not elected [Member] Intercompany balances hedges primarily short-term debt and related interest [Member] Conversion Of Pound to Canadian Dollar [Member] CAD
Fair value hedges
Derivatives Interest Pay Value																						€ 4,323		€ 2,359		7,821		6,379	$ 1,257		$ 1,639		£ 5,827		£ 81,848			£ 51,736		£ 86,258		407,470		313,797							$ 85,894			€ 65,292		€ 25,000	£ 70,000
Derivatives Interest Receive Value (US$)																					5,950																83,500		132,236		410,100		307,012										86,985
Derivatives Interest Receive Value (Euro)																									5,800		4,650			911		1,167		7,000		92,868
Derivatives Interest Receive Value (Pound)																							2,000																													55,000			21,265
Derivatives Interest Receive Value (Canadian Dollar)																																																										110,907
Blended Contract Rate																					137.64%	137.64%	84.78%	84.78%	74.16%	74.16%	72.90%	72.90%	72.47%	72.47%	71.33%	71.33%	120.13%	120.13%	113.46%	113.46%	161.40%	161.40%	153.30%	153.30%	100.65%	100.65%	97.84%	97.84%							64.03%	64.03%	133.22%	133.22%	85.06%	85.06%	158.44%	158.44%
Current Assets	9,150	3,654			2,008	940			0	0	308	0	90	0	620	0	0	641	0	2,073																											5,640	13	0	471
Current (Liability)	(33,967)	(4,927)			0	0			(446)	(152)	0	(85)	0	(88)	0	(1,496)	(2,876)	(109)	(19,962)	(3,149)																											0	(9,042)	(1,367)	(122)
Total fair value of financial instruments	(24,817)	(1,273)			2,008	940			(446)	(152)	308	(85)	90	(88)	620	(1,496)	(2,876)	532	(19,962)	(1,076)																											5,640	(9,029)	(1,367)	349
Impact of derivative financial instruments on statements of income
Gain (loss) recognized in income	$ (22,150)	$ (5,444)	$ 1,262	$ 1,382			$ (20,243)	$ (6,826)																																					$ (3,169)	$ 0