Quarterly Financial Data (Unaudited) (Details) - USD ($) $ / shares in Units, shares in Millions	3 Months Ended								12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2016	Sep. 30, 2016	Jun. 30, 2016	Mar. 31, 2016	Dec. 31, 2015	Sep. 30, 2015	Jun. 30, 2015	Mar. 31, 2015	Dec. 31, 2016		Dec. 31, 2015		Dec. 31, 2014
Quarterly Financial Information [Line Items]
Net sales	$ 3,836,800,000	$ 3,993,900,000	$ 3,687,400,000	$ 3,011,300,000	$ 2,815,100,000	$ 2,991,600,000	$ 2,810,400,000	$ 2,452,300,000	$ 14,529,400,000		$ 11,069,400,000		$ 10,280,100,000
Cost of goods sold	3,637,800,000	3,795,000,000	3,499,500,000	2,860,200,000	2,645,000,000	2,820,000,000	2,651,500,000	2,315,000,000	13,792,500,000		10,431,500,000		9,706,400,000
Gross profit	199,000,000	198,900,000	187,900,000	151,100,000	170,100,000	171,600,000	158,900,000	137,300,000	736,900,000		637,900,000		573,700,000
Warehousing and distribution expenses	116,200,000	117,400,000	106,000,000	91,600,000	91,700,000	92,800,000	88,600,000	79,500,000	431,200,000		352,600,000		318,400,000
Selling, general and administrative expenses	50,300,000	57,600,000	53,000,000	49,400,000	48,400,000	52,800,000	47,500,000	47,300,000	210,300,000		196,000,000		184,400,000
Amortization of intangible assets	1,500,000	1,700,000	1,200,000	900,000	800,000	600,000	600,000	600,000	5,300,000		2,600,000		2,600,000
Total operating expenses	168,000,000	176,700,000	160,200,000	141,900,000	140,900,000	146,200,000	136,700,000	127,400,000	646,800,000		551,200,000		505,400,000
Income from operations	31,000,000	22,200,000	27,700,000	9,200,000	29,200,000	25,400,000	22,200,000	9,900,000	90,100,000		86,700,000		68,300,000
Interest expense	(2,000,000)	(1,500,000)	(1,000,000)	(800,000)	(600,000)	(600,000)	(700,000)	(600,000)	(5,300,000)		(2,500,000)		(2,400,000)
Interest income	100,000	0	0	100,000	100,000	100,000	100,000	200,000	200,000		500,000		600,000
Foreign currency transaction gains (losses), net	600,000	(500,000)	(300,000)	700,000	(500,000)	(700,000)	(200,000)	(400,000)	500,000		(1,800,000)		(100,000)
Income before income taxes	29,700,000	20,200,000	26,400,000	9,200,000	28,200,000	24,200,000	21,400,000	9,100,000	85,500,000		82,900,000		66,400,000
Income tax provision	(11,000,000)	(6,700,000)	(10,100,000)	(3,500,000)	(10,500,000)	(9,100,000)	(8,200,000)	(3,600,000)	(31,300,000)		(31,400,000)		(23,700,000)
Net income	$ 18,700,000	$ 13,500,000	$ 16,300,000	$ 5,700,000	$ 17,700,000	$ 15,100,000	$ 13,200,000	$ 5,500,000	$ 54,200,000	[1]	$ 51,500,000	[1]	$ 42,700,000	[1]
Basic net income per common share (in dollars per share)	$ 0.41	$ 0.29	$ 0.35	$ 0.12	$ 0.39	$ 0.33	$ 0.29	$ 0.12	$ 1.17		$ 1.12		$ 0.93
Diluted net income per common share (in dollars per share)	$ 0.41	$ 0.29	$ 0.35	$ 0.12	$ 0.38	$ 0.33	$ 0.29	$ 0.12	$ 1.17		$ 1.11		$ 0.92
Basic weighted-average shares (in shares)	46.2	46.3	46.3	46.4	46.4	46.2	46.2	46.4	46.3		46.2		46.2
Diluted weighted-average shares (in shares)	46.4	46.5	46.5	46.6	46.8	46.6	46.6	46.6	46.5		46.6		46.6
Excise taxes	$ 815,400,000	$ 879,100,000	$ 729,500,000	$ 598,000,000	$ 566,700,000	$ 607,100,000	$ 554,200,000	$ 483,700,000	$ 3,000,000,000		$ 2,200,000,000		$ 2,100,000,000
LIFO expense	3,200,000	3,700,000	2,900,000	3,400,000	(7,300,000)	3,300,000	3,500,000	2,400,000	13,200,000		1,900,000		16,300,000
Depreciation and amortization	11,700,000	11,400,000	10,200,000	9,600,000	9,600,000	9,900,000	9,700,000	8,700,000	42,900,000		37,900,000		32,000,000
Stock-based compensation	600,000	1,900,000	1,700,000	1,900,000	2,000,000	2,700,000	2,100,000	1,900,000	6,100,000		8,700,000		6,100,000
Capital expenditures	9,800,000	21,700,000	14,000,000	8,800,000	5,600,000	10,300,000	11,700,000	2,700,000	54,300,000		30,300,000		53,900,000
OTP tax refunds, net of tax assessments							800,000	900,000
Acquisition and transition costs									2,200,000		1,800,000
Acquisition and integration expenses	300,000	500,000	800,000	600,000.0	300,000	400,000	800,000	300,000
Pension Expense	100,000	1,200,000			700,000	900,000			1,300,000		1,600,000
Cigarettes
Quarterly Financial Information [Line Items]
Net sales	2,734,700,000	2,855,300,000	2,631,100,000	2,114,600,000	1,934,500,000	2,049,600,000	1,899,100,000	1,645,300,000	10,335,700,000		7,528,500,000		6,942,000,000
Inventory holding gains	6,900,000	400,000	7,000,000	1,000,000	4,700,000	600,000	3,800,000	1,000,000
Inventory tax stamp holding gain					700,000	8,300,000	0	0
Food/non-food
Quarterly Financial Information [Line Items]
Net sales	$ 1,102,100,000	$ 1,138,600,000	$ 1,056,300,000	896,700,000	$ 880,600,000	$ 942,000,000	$ 911,300,000	$ 807,000,000	$ 4,193,700,000		$ 3,540,900,000		$ 3,338,100,000
Lawsuit Against Sonitrol Corporation
Quarterly Financial Information [Line Items]
Gain, net of legal costs, related to the settlement				$ 2,000,000

[1] Amounts have been rounded for presentation purposes and might differ from unrounded results.