Document and Entity Information - shares	9 Months Ended
	Oct. 28, 2017	Dec. 01, 2017
Entity Registrant Name	FREDS INC
Entity Central Index Key	0000724571
Document Type	10-Q
Trading Symbol	FRED
Document Period End Date	Oct. 28, 2017
Amendment Flag	false
Current Fiscal Year End Date	--02-03
Entity a Well-known Seasoned Issuer	No
Entity a Voluntary Filer	No
Entity's Reporting Status Current	Yes
Entity Filer Category	Accelerated Filer
Document Fiscal Period Focus	Q3
Document Fiscal Year Focus	2017
Common Class A [Member]
Entity Common Stock, Shares Outstanding		38,228,480
Nonvoting Common Class B [Member]
Entity Common Stock, Shares Outstanding		0