Segment Reporting (Details) (USD $) In Thousands, unless otherwise specified	3 Months Ended											12 Months Ended
	Feb. 01, 2014 country	Nov. 02, 2013		Aug. 03, 2013	May 04, 2013	Feb. 02, 2013		Oct. 27, 2012		Jul. 28, 2012	Apr. 28, 2012	Feb. 01, 2014 Rate segment country	Feb. 02, 2013 Rate	Jan. 28, 2012 Rate
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Number of Reportable Segments												3
Segment Reporting, Number of Countries Serviced by International Operations	23											23
Sales	$ 5,873,273	$ 6,111,695	[1]	$ 5,314,724	$ 5,814,571	$ 6,567,980	[2],[3]	$ 6,353,140	[4]	$ 5,433,969	$ 6,025,421	$ 23,114,263	$ 24,380,510	$ 24,664,752
Business Unit Income												1,322,218	1,645,890	1,785,593
Depreciation & Amortization												458,218	487,313	482,056
Acquisition of property and equipment												371,229	349,574	383,654
Stock-based compensation												(80,632)	(117,813)	(151,822)
Impairment of goodwill and long-lived assets								(811,000)				0	(810,996)	0
Restructuring charges		(64,100)				(176,600)		(30,400)				(64,085)	(207,016)	0
Interest and other expense, net												(114,696)	(244,642)	(169,127)
Income from continuing operations before income taxes												1,062,805	265,423	1,464,644
Assets	11,174,876					12,280,005						11,174,876	12,280,005	13,430,622
Sales by Each Major Product Line as a Percentage of Total Sales												100.00%	100.00%	100.00%
Long-lived Assets	1,870,719					1,963,175						1,870,719	1,963,175	2,080,361
UNITED STATES [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Sales												16,211,640	16,783,592	16,643,255
Long-lived Assets	1,236,841					1,248,732						1,236,841	1,248,732	1,293,378
CANADA
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Sales												2,933,133	3,152,716	3,073,603
Long-lived Assets	192,467					226,417						192,467	226,417	232,071
International Geographic Information [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Sales												3,969,490	4,444,202	4,947,894
Long-lived Assets	441,411					488,026						441,411	488,026	554,912
Office Supplies [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Sales by Each Major Product Line as a Percentage of Total Sales												27.50%	28.10%	29.40%
Ink and Toner [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Sales by Each Major Product Line as a Percentage of Total Sales												20.20%	19.70%	19.50%
Business Technology [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Sales by Each Major Product Line as a Percentage of Total Sales												15.20%	16.60%	18.00%
Paper [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Sales by Each Major Product Line as a Percentage of Total Sales												9.00%	9.00%	9.00%
Facilities and breakroom [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Sales by Each Major Product Line as a Percentage of Total Sales												8.70%	7.40%	6.50%
Business Machines and Related Products [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Sales by Each Major Product Line as a Percentage of Total Sales												6.90%	6.90%	6.80%
7380 Services, Miscellaneous Business Services [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Sales by Each Major Product Line as a Percentage of Total Sales												6.90%	6.70%	5.70%
2520 Office Furniture [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Sales by Each Major Product Line as a Percentage of Total Sales												5.60%	5.60%	5.10%
North American Stores & Online [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Segment Reporting Information, Revenue for Reportable Segment												11,103,160	11,827,906	11,741,998
Business Unit Income												733,465	987,025	1,021,442
Depreciation & Amortization												225,506	222,381	225,019
Acquisition of property and equipment												211,581	197,025	193,958
Assets	3,704,907					4,240,597						3,704,907	4,240,597	4,037,508
North American Commercial [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Segment Reporting Information, Revenue for Reportable Segment												8,041,613	8,108,402	7,974,860
Business Unit Income												603,972	680,011	660,822
Depreciation & Amortization												123,625	123,890	124,692
Acquisition of property and equipment												106,533	94,976	106,989
Assets	3,951,973					4,124,246						3,951,973	4,124,246	4,001,207
International Operations [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Segment Reporting Information, Revenue for Reportable Segment												3,969,490	4,444,202	4,947,894
Business Unit Income												(15,219)	(21,146)	103,329
Depreciation & Amortization												109,087	141,042	132,345
Acquisition of property and equipment												53,115	57,573	82,707
Assets	3,517,996					3,744,343						3,517,996	3,744,343	5,220,421
Segment, Discontinued Operations [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Assets	0					170,819						0	170,819	171,486
Segment, Continuing Operations [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Assets	$ 11,174,876					$ 12,109,186						$ 11,174,876	$ 12,109,186	$ 13,259,136

[1] Income from continuing operations for this period includes a $64.1 million restructuring charge (see Note B - Restructuring Charges). Loss from discontinued operations, net of income taxes includes a loss on disposal of $80.9 million (see Note D - Divestitures).

[2] Income from continuing operations for this period includes a $176.6 million restructuring charge (see Note B - Restructuring Charges), $4.5 million of accelerated tradename amortization related to rebranding the Company's business in Australia, a $57.0 million loss on early extinguishment of debt and a $26.2 million charge related to the termination of the Company's joint venture arrangement in India.

[3] The Company's fourth quarter of fiscal 2012 includes 14 weeks of operating results, while other quarterly periods presented include 13 weeks.

[4] Income from continuing operations for this period includes an $811.0 million charge for impairment of goodwill and long-lived assets (see Note C - Goodwill and Long-Lived Assets), a $30.4 million restructuring charge (see Note B - Restructuring Charges) and $15.6 million of accelerated tradename amortization related to rebranding the Company's business in Australia.