v2.4.0.6

Commitments and Contingencies Settlement of Litigation (Details)			1 Months Ended	12 Months Ended				9 Months Ended
	Jan. 28, 2012 USD ($)	Jul. 23, 2008 EUR (€)	Jan. 30, 2010 Loss Contingency Settlement of Litigation [Member] USD ($)	Jan. 28, 2012 Loss Contingency Settlement of Litigation [Member] USD ($)	Jan. 29, 2011 Loss Contingency Settlement of Litigation [Member] USD ($)	Jan. 30, 2010 Loss Contingency Settlement of Litigation [Member] USD ($)	Jul. 23, 2008 Corporate Express [Member]	Oct. 29, 2011 Befec [Member] EUR (€)
Loss Contingencies [Line Items]
Loss Contingency, Loss in Period			$ 42,000,000	$ 0	$ 0	$ 42,000,000
Loss Contingency Settlement Agreement Number of Associates			5,500
Loss Contingency, Damages Sought, Value								134,000,000
Payment upon Termination of Acquisition Agreement		30,000,000
Additional Payment Sought for the Termination of Acquisition Agreement	$ 12,000,000
Business Acquisition, Percentage of Voting Interests Acquired							99.00%

X

- Definition

Additional payment sought for the Termination of Acquisition Agreement between Corporate Express and Corely/Lyreco that occured due to the Staples' acquisition of Corporate Express to cover Corporate Income Taxes incurred, not including interst and legal fees.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

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X

- Definition

This element represents the number of current and former associates covered in the settlement of a class action lawsuit.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

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Namespace Prefix:	spls_
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X

- Definition

Payment upon Termination of Acquisition Agreement between Corporate Express and Corely/Lyreco that occured due to the Staples' acquisition of Corporate Express

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

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X

- Definition

Percentage of voting equity interests acquired in the business combination.

+ References

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-Publisher FASB

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- Definition

The value (monetary amount) of the award the plaintiff seeks in the legal matter.

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- Definition

The amount of loss pertaining to the specified contingency that was charged against earnings in the period, including the effects of revisions in previously reported estimates.

+ References

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-Publisher FASB

-Name Statement of Financial Accounting Standard (FAS)

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-Paragraph 9

-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.



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