MULTI-EMPLOYER PENSION PLANS (Details) (USD $) In Millions, unless otherwise specified	3 Months Ended	12 Months Ended							12 Months Ended										12 Months Ended							12 Months Ended										12 Months Ended																						12 Months Ended								12 Months Ended
	Jan. 28, 2012	Jan. 28, 2012	Jan. 29, 2011	Jan. 30, 2010	Jan. 28, 2012 Red zone Maximum	Jan. 28, 2012 Yellow zone Maximum	Jan. 28, 2012 Green zone Minimum	Jan. 28, 2012 Memorandum of understanding with United Food and Commercial Workers International Union local fund	Jan. 28, 2012 Pension Fund	Jan. 29, 2011 Pension Fund	Jan. 30, 2010 Pension Fund	Jan. 28, 2012 Pension Fund SO CA UFCW Unions & Food Employers Joint Pension Trust Fund count	Jan. 29, 2011 Pension Fund SO CA UFCW Unions & Food Employers Joint Pension Trust Fund	Jan. 30, 2010 Pension Fund SO CA UFCW Unions & Food Employers Joint Pension Trust Fund	Jan. 28, 2012 Pension Fund BD of Trustees of UNTD Food and Commercial	Jan. 29, 2011 Pension Fund BD of Trustees of UNTD Food and Commercial	Jan. 30, 2010 Pension Fund BD of Trustees of UNTD Food and Commercial	Dec. 31, 2011 Pension Fund BD of Trustees of UNTD Food and Commercial fund	Jan. 28, 2012 Pension Fund Desert States Employers & UFCW Unions Pension Plan count	Jan. 29, 2011 Pension Fund Desert States Employers & UFCW Unions Pension Plan	Jan. 30, 2010 Pension Fund Desert States Employers & UFCW Unions Pension Plan	Jan. 28, 2012 Pension Fund UFCW Unions and Food Employers Pension Plan of Central Ohio	Jan. 29, 2011 Pension Fund UFCW Unions and Food Employers Pension Plan of Central Ohio	Jan. 30, 2010 Pension Fund UFCW Unions and Food Employers Pension Plan of Central Ohio	Dec. 31, 2011 Pension Fund UFCW Unions and Food Employers Pension Plan of Central Ohio fund	Jan. 28, 2012 Pension Fund Sound Retirement Trust (formerly Retail Clerks Pension Plan) count	Jan. 29, 2011 Pension Fund Sound Retirement Trust (formerly Retail Clerks Pension Plan)	Jan. 30, 2010 Pension Fund Sound Retirement Trust (formerly Retail Clerks Pension Plan)	Jan. 28, 2012 Pension Fund Rocky Mountain UFCW Unions and Employers Pension Plan count	Jan. 29, 2011 Pension Fund Rocky Mountain UFCW Unions and Employers Pension Plan	Jan. 30, 2010 Pension Fund Rocky Mountain UFCW Unions and Employers Pension Plan	Jan. 28, 2012 Pension Fund Indiana UFCW Unions and Retail Food Employers Pension Plan	Jan. 29, 2011 Pension Fund Indiana UFCW Unions and Retail Food Employers Pension Plan	Jan. 30, 2010 Pension Fund Indiana UFCW Unions and Retail Food Employers Pension Plan	Dec. 31, 2011 Pension Fund Indiana UFCW Unions and Retail Food Employers Pension Plan fund	Jan. 28, 2012 Pension Fund Oregon Retail Employees Pension Plan count	Jan. 29, 2011 Pension Fund Oregon Retail Employees Pension Plan	Jan. 30, 2010 Pension Fund Oregon Retail Employees Pension Plan	Jan. 28, 2012 Pension Fund Bakery and Confectionary Union & Industry International Pension Fund count	Jan. 29, 2011 Pension Fund Bakery and Confectionary Union & Industry International Pension Fund	Jan. 30, 2010 Pension Fund Bakery and Confectionary Union & Industry International Pension Fund	Jan. 28, 2012 Pension Fund Washington Meat Industry Pension Trust count	Jan. 29, 2011 Pension Fund Washington Meat Industry Pension Trust	Jan. 30, 2010 Pension Fund Washington Meat Industry Pension Trust	Jan. 28, 2012 Pension Fund Retail Food Employers & UFCW Local 711 Pension count	Jan. 29, 2011 Pension Fund Retail Food Employers & UFCW Local 711 Pension	Jan. 30, 2010 Pension Fund Retail Food Employers & UFCW Local 711 Pension	Jan. 28, 2012 Pension Fund Denver Area Meat Cutters and Employers Pension Plan count	Jan. 29, 2011 Pension Fund Denver Area Meat Cutters and Employers Pension Plan	Jan. 30, 2010 Pension Fund Denver Area Meat Cutters and Employers Pension Plan	Jan. 28, 2012 Pension Fund United Food & Commercial Workers Intl Union - Industry Pension Fund count	Jan. 29, 2011 Pension Fund United Food & Commercial Workers Intl Union - Industry Pension Fund	Jan. 30, 2010 Pension Fund United Food & Commercial Workers Intl Union - Industry Pension Fund	Jan. 28, 2012 Pension Fund Northwest Ohio UFCW Union and Employers Joint Pension Fund	Jan. 29, 2011 Pension Fund Northwest Ohio UFCW Union and Employers Joint Pension Fund	Jan. 30, 2010 Pension Fund Northwest Ohio UFCW Union and Employers Joint Pension Fund	Dec. 31, 2011 Pension Fund Northwest Ohio UFCW Union and Employers Joint Pension Fund fund	Jan. 28, 2012 Pension Fund Western Conference of Teamsters Pension Plan count	Jan. 29, 2011 Pension Fund Western Conference of Teamsters Pension Plan	Jan. 30, 2010 Pension Fund Western Conference of Teamsters Pension Plan	Jan. 28, 2012 Pension Fund Central States, Southeast & Southwest Areas Pension Plan count	Jan. 29, 2011 Pension Fund Central States, Southeast & Southwest Areas Pension Plan	Jan. 30, 2010 Pension Fund Central States, Southeast & Southwest Areas Pension Plan	Jan. 28, 2012 Pension Fund UFCW Consolidated Pension Plan count	Jan. 02, 2012 Pension Fund UFCW Consolidated Pension Plan plan	Jan. 28, 2012 Pension Fund Other	Jan. 29, 2011 Pension Fund Other	Jan. 30, 2010 Pension Fund Other
MULTI-EMPLOYER PLANS
Number of locals of the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union that particpate in the four multi-employer pension funds								14
Number of multi-employer pension funds								4
Number of multi-employer pension funds after the consolidation								1
Pre-tax underfunded amount of the four existing multi-employer pension plans								$ 911
Contribution allocated to Unfunded Actuarial Accrued Liability	600
Contribution allocated to service and interest costs and expense	50
Percentage of funded status					65.00%	80.00%	80.00%
Contribution to other multi-employer benefit plans		$ 1,000	$ 900	$ 900					$ 946	$ 262	$ 233	$ 40	$ 41	$ 42	$ 59	$ 47	$ 35		$ 20	$ 17	$ 15	$ 23	$ 21	$ 20		$ 10	$ 9	$ 9	$ 16	$ 16	$ 10	$ 5	$ 5	$ 4		$ 6	$ 6	$ 5	$ 9	$ 6	$ 5	$ 2	$ 2	$ 2	$ 7	$ 7	$ 7	$ 8	$ 8	$ 4	$ 33	$ 30	$ 27	$ 2	$ 2	$ 2		$ 31	$ 30	$ 30	$ 14	$ 8	$ 7	$ 650		$ 11	$ 7	$ 9
Minimum percentage of total contributions received by pension fund												5.00%	5.00%	5.00%	5.00%	5.00%	5.00%		5.00%	5.00%	5.00%	5.00%	5.00%	5.00%		5.00%	5.00%	5.00%	5.00%	5.00%	5.00%	5.00%	5.00%	5.00%		5.00%	5.00%	5.00%				5.00%	5.00%	5.00%	5.00%	5.00%	5.00%	5.00%	5.00%	5.00%	5.00%	5.00%	5.00%	5.00%	5.00%	5.00%								5.00%
Number of multi-employer pension funds																		4							4										4																						4
Number of multi-employer pension funds before consolidation																																																																	4
Most Significant Collective Bargaining Agreements Count												2							1							2			1							3			4			1			2			1			2							5			2			8