v2.3.0.11

Segment Reporting | 6 Months Ended
--- | ---
Jul. 30, 2011
Segment Reporting Disclosure [Abstract] |
Segment Reporting | Segment Reporting Staples has three reportable segments: North American Delivery, North American Retail and International Operations. Staples’ North American Delivery segment consists of the U.S. and Canadian businesses that sell and deliver office products and services directly to customers and businesses and includes Staples Advantage, Staples.com and Quill.com. The North American Retail segment consists of the U.S. and Canadian businesses that operate office products stores. The International Operations segment consists of businesses that operate office products stores and that sell and deliver office products and services directly to customers and businesses in 24 countries in Europe, Australia, South America and Asia. Staples evaluates performance and allocates resources based on profit or loss from operations before integration and restructuring costs, stock-based compensation, interest and other expense, non-recurring items, and the impact of changes in accounting principles (“business unit income”). Intersegment sales and transfers are recorded at Staples’ cost; therefore, there is no intercompany profit or loss recognized on these transactions. Staples’ North American Delivery and North American Retail segments are managed separately because the way they market products is different, the classes of customers they service may be different, and the distribution methods used to deliver products to customers are different. The International Operations are considered a separate reportable segment because of the significant differences in the operating environment from the North American operations. The following is a summary of sales and business unit income by reportable segment for the second quarter and first half of 2011 and 2010 and a reconciliation of business unit income to consolidated income before income taxes (in thousands):
| 13 Weeks Ended |  | 26 Weeks Ended
| July 30, 2011 |  | July 31, 2010 |  | July 30, 2011 |  | July 31, 2010
| Sales |  | Sales
North American Delivery | $ | 2,433,217 |  |  | $ | 2,359,427 |  |  | $ | 4,944,863 |  |  | $ | 4,822,081 |
North American Retail | 2,045,143 |  |  | 2,010,549 |  |  | 4,373,228 |  |  | 4,322,759 |
International Operations | 1,341,252 |  |  | 1,164,264 |  |  | 2,674,459 |  |  | 2,447,195 |
Total segment sales | $ | 5,819,612 |  |  | $ | 5,534,240 |  |  | $ | 11,992,550 |  |  | $ | 11,592,035 |
| Business Unit Income |  | Business Unit Income
North American Delivery | $ | 204,765 |  |  | $ | 206,421 |  |  | $ | 401,615 |  |  | $ | 409,937 |
North American Retail | 102,872 |  |  | 105,694 |  |  | 280,221 |  |  | 282,243 |
International Operations | 16,576 |  |  | 13,546 |  |  | 26,100 |  |  | 50,434 |
Business unit income | $ | 324,213 |  |  | $ | 325,661 |  |  | $ | 707,936 |  |  | $ | 742,614 |
Stock-based compensation | (46,074 | ) |  | (35,864 | ) |  | (81,470 | ) |  | (69,629 | )
Interest and other expense, net | (40,735 | ) |  | (55,882 | ) |  | (87,257 | ) |  | (110,216 | )
Integration and restructuring costs | — |  |  | (21,644 | ) |  | — |  |  | (42,526 | )
Consolidated income before income taxes | $ | 237,404 |  |  | $ | 212,271 |  |  | $ | 539,209 |  |  | $ | 520,243 |

X
- Definition -- None. No documentation exists for this element. -- + Details
Name: | spls_SegmentReportingDisclosureAbstract
Namespace Prefix: | spls
Data Type: | xbrli:stringItemType
Balance Type: | na
Period Type: | duration

X
- Definition The entire disclosure for reporting segments including data and tables. Reportable segments include those that meet any of the following quantitative thresholds a) it's reported revenue, including sales to external customers and intersegment sales or transfers is 10 percent or more of the combined revenue, internal and external, of all operating segments b) the absolute amount of its reported profit or loss is 10 percent or more of the greater, in absolute amount of 1) the combined reported profit of all operating segments that did not report a loss or 2) the combined reported loss of all operating segments that did report a loss c) its assets are 10 percent or more of the combined assets of all operating segments. + References Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 280 -SubTopic 10 -Section 50 -Paragraph 12 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6534315&loc=d3e8595-108599 Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 280 -SubTopic 10 -Section 50 -Paragraph 10 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6534315&loc=d3e8538-108599 Reference 3: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 280 -SubTopic 10 -Section 50 -Paragraph 33 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6534315&loc=d3e8971-108599 Reference 4: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 280 -SubTopic 10 -Section 50 -Paragraph 34 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6534315&loc=d3e8981-108599 Reference 5: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 280 -SubTopic 10 -Section 50 -Paragraph 29 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6534315&loc=d3e8864-108599 Reference 6: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 280 -SubTopic 10 -Section 50 -Paragraph 1 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6534315&loc=d3e8380-108599 Reference 7: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 280 -SubTopic 10 -Section 50 -Paragraph 35 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6534315&loc=d3e8984-108599 Reference 8: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 280 -SubTopic 10 -Section 50 -Paragraph 41 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6534315&loc=d3e9038-108599 Reference 9: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 280 -SubTopic 10 -Section 50 -Paragraph 32 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6534315&loc=d3e8933-108599 Reference 10: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Statement of Financial Accounting Standard (FAS) -Number 131 -LegacyDoc This reference is SUPERSEDED by the Accounting Standards Codification effective for interim and annual periods ending after September 15, 2009. This reference is included to help users transition from the previous accounting hierarchy and will be removed from future versions of this taxonomy. Reference 11: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 280 -SubTopic 10 -Section 50 -Paragraph 30 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6534315&loc=d3e8906-108599 Reference 12: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 280 -SubTopic 10 -Section 50 -Paragraph 26 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6534315&loc=d3e8844-108599 Reference 13: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 280 -SubTopic 10 -Section 50 -Paragraph 40 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6534315&loc=d3e9031-108599 Reference 14: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 280 -SubTopic 10 -Section 50 -Paragraph 42 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6534315&loc=d3e9054-108599 Reference 15: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 280 -SubTopic 10 -Section 50 -Paragraph 31 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6534315&loc=d3e8924-108599 + Details
Name: | us-gaap_SegmentReportingDisclosureTextBlock
Namespace Prefix: | us-gaap
Data Type: | nonnum:textBlockItemType
Balance Type: | na
Period Type: | duration