Indebtedness and Credit Agreement (Details) (USD $) In Thousands, unless otherwise specified	12 Months Ended					3 Months Ended	12 Months Ended			12 Months Ended				12 Months Ended			1 Months Ended	12 Months Ended	1 Months Ended	12 Months Ended		1 Months Ended							1 Months Ended	12 Months Ended						1 Months Ended					1 Months Ended					1 Months Ended						1 Months Ended			1 Months Ended							1 Months Ended
	Mar. 03, 2012	Feb. 26, 2011	Feb. 27, 2010	Mar. 03, 2012 Secured Debt	Feb. 26, 2011 Secured Debt	Mar. 03, 2012 Senior secured credit facility	Mar. 03, 2012 Senior secured credit facility D Loan	Mar. 03, 2012 Senior secured revolving credit facility due August 2015 D	Feb. 26, 2011 Senior secured revolving credit facility due August 2015	Mar. 03, 2012 Senior secured revolving credit facility due August 2015 LIBOR	Mar. 03, 2012 Senior secured revolving credit facility due August 2015 Citibank's base rate	Mar. 03, 2012 Tranche 2 Term Loan June 2014	Feb. 26, 2011 Tranche 2 Term Loan June 2014	Mar. 03, 2012 Tranche 2 Term Loan June 2014 LIBOR	Mar. 03, 2012 Tranche 2 Term Loan June 2014 Citibank's base rate	Feb. 26, 2011 Tranche 3 Term Loan due June 2014	Mar. 27, 2011 Tranche 5 Term Loan due March 2018	Mar. 03, 2012 Tranche 5 Term Loan due March 2018 LIBOR	Jun. 30, 2009 9.75% senior secured notes (senior lien) due June 2016	Mar. 03, 2012 9.75% senior secured notes (senior lien) due June 2016	Feb. 26, 2011 9.75% senior secured notes (senior lien) due June 2016	Aug. 28, 2010 8.00% senior secured notes (senior lien) due August 2020	Mar. 03, 2012 8.00% senior secured notes (senior lien) due August 2020	Feb. 26, 2011 8.00% senior secured notes (senior lien) due August 2020	Mar. 03, 2012 10.375% senior secured notes (second lien) due July 2016	Feb. 26, 2011 10.375% senior secured notes (second lien) due July 2016	Mar. 03, 2012 7.5% senior secured notes (second lien) due March 2017	Feb. 26, 2011 7.5% senior secured notes (second lien) due March 2017	Oct. 31, 2009 10.25% senior secured notes (second lien) due October 2019	Mar. 03, 2012 10.25% senior secured notes (second lien) due October 2019	Feb. 26, 2011 10.25% senior secured notes (second lien) due October 2019	Mar. 03, 2012 Other secured	Feb. 26, 2011 Other secured	Mar. 03, 2012 Guaranteed Unsecured Debt:	Feb. 26, 2011 Guaranteed Unsecured Debt:	Mar. 31, 2012 8.625% senior notes due March, 2015	Feb. 29, 2012 8.625% senior notes due March, 2015	Aug. 31, 2011 8.625% senior notes due March, 2015	Mar. 03, 2012 8.625% senior notes due March, 2015	Feb. 26, 2011 8.625% senior notes due March, 2015	Aug. 31, 2011 9.375% senior notes due December 2015	Mar. 03, 2012 9.375% senior notes due December 2015	Feb. 26, 2011 9.375% senior notes due December 2015	Mar. 03, 2012 9.5% senior notes due June 2017	Feb. 26, 2011 9.5% senior notes due June 2017	Feb. 29, 2012 9.25% senior secured notes (senior lien) due March 2020	Mar. 03, 2012 9.25% senior secured notes (senior lien) due March 2020	Mar. 03, 2012 Unsecured Unguaranteed Debt	Feb. 26, 2011 Unsecured Unguaranteed Debt	Mar. 03, 2012 9.25% senior notes due June 2013	Feb. 26, 2011 9.25% senior notes due June 2013	Aug. 31, 2011 6.875% senior debentures due August 2013	Mar. 03, 2012 6.875% senior debentures due August 2013	Feb. 26, 2011 6.875% senior debentures due August 2013	Jul. 31, 2010 8.5% convertible notes due May 2015	Mar. 03, 2012 8.5% convertible notes due May 2015	Feb. 26, 2011 8.5% convertible notes due May 2015	Mar. 03, 2012 7.7% notes due February 2027	Feb. 26, 2011 7.7% notes due February 2027	Mar. 03, 2012 6.875% fixed-rate senior notes due December 2028	Feb. 26, 2011 6.875% fixed-rate senior notes due December 2028	Aug. 31, 2011 8.625% senior notes due March 2015, 9.375% senior notes due December 2015 and 6.875% senior debentures due August 2013
Indebtedness and credit agreements
Long-term debt				$ 3,787,084	$ 3,693,067			$ 136,000	$ 28,000			$ 1,044,433	$ 1,074,613			$ 322,407		$ 331,879		$ 405,421	$ 404,365		$ 650,000	$ 650,000	$ 445,578	$ 440,048	$ 500,000	$ 500,000		$ 268,431	$ 268,226	$ 5,342	$ 5,408	$ 1,740,653	$ 1,708,525				$ 54,156	$ 500,000		$ 402,327	$ 406,655	$ 803,170	$ 801,870		$ 481,000	$ 673,480	$ 677,976	$ 6,015	$ 6,015		$ 180,277	$ 184,773		$ 64,188	$ 64,188	$ 295,000	$ 295,000	$ 128,000	$ 128,000
Lease financing obligations	126,984	140,297
Total debt	6,328,201	6,219,865
Current maturities of long-term debt and lease financing obligations	(79,421)	(63,045)
Long-term debt and lease financing obligations, less current maturities	6,248,780	6,156,820
Face value																342,125		333,367		410,000	410,000				470,000	470,000				270,000	270,000											405,000	410,000	810,000	810,000
Unamortized discount																19,718		1,488		4,579	5,635				24,422	29,952				1,569	1,774											2,673	3,345	6,830	8,130
Debt instrument, stated interest rate (as a percent)																				9.75%			8.00%		10.375%		7.50%			10.25%												9.375%		9.50%			9.25%			9.25%			6.875%			8.50%		7.70%		6.875%
Credit facility
Revolving credit facility	1,175,000							1,175,000
Number of term loans							2
Reference rate for variable interest rate	LIBOR									LIBOR	Citibank's base rate			LIBOR	Citibank's base rate			LIBOR
Percentage points added to the reference rate, low end of range										3.25%	2.25%
Percentage points added to the reference rate, high end of range										3.75%	2.75%
Percentage of fee payable on daily unused revolver availability, low end of range								0.50%
Percentage of fee payable on daily unused revolver availability, high end of range								0.75%
Minimum number of days the Company may extend the due date								90
Minimum remaining borrowing capacity required on line of credit before debt is repaid or refinanced						100,000	100,000	500,000
Ownership interest (as a percent)	100.00%
Outstanding borrowings	136,000							136,000																																															158,000
Letters of credit outstanding								128,190
Additional borrowing capacity								910,810
Percentage points added to the reference rate														1.75%	0.75%			3.25%
LIBOR floor (as a percent)																		1.25%
Percentage of prepayment fee in the event of refinanced within the first year after issuance																		1.00%
Loss on debt modification																22,434
Write-off of debt issue costs																2,716
Net unamortized original issuance discounts																19,718
Maximum amount of accumulated cash on hand allowed with outstanding revolving loans							200,000
Maximum amount of accumulated cash on hand allowed over three days with outstanding revolving loans							100,000
Number of consecutive business days							3
Sum of revolver availability and amount held on deposit with the senior collateral agent in the concentration account, maximum							100,000
Maximum amount of secured second priority debt and unsecured debt that may be outstanding per agreement							1,500,000
Maximum amount of secured second priority debt and unsecured debt that may mature or require scheduled principal payments prior to June 4, 2014, per agreement							750,000
Threshold availability on revolving credit facility to trigger fixed charge coverage requirements							150,000
Minimum fixed charge coverage ratio, numerator (as a percent)						105.00%
Minimum fixed charge coverage ratio, denominator (as a percent)						100.00%
Amount of additional secured and unsecured debt that could be incurred under indentures	1,006,200
Debts with outstanding principal amount in excess of specified amount , event of default, if entity fails to make required payment							50,000
Repurchase of notes																																				55,644	404,844	41,000			5,000											4,496			93,812
Gain (loss) on repurchase of notes																																				(16,066)																										4,924
Issuance of debt																	331,879		410,000			650,000							270,000																	481,000
Percentage of par value at which debt was issued																				98.20%										99.20%
Annual weighted average rate (as a percent)	7.40%	7.50%	6.80%
Maturities
2013	59,445
2014	189,316
2015	1,044,692
2016	608,617
2017 and thereafter	$ 4,340,708