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Document and Company Information - USD ($)	3 Months Ended
Document and Company Information - USD ($)	Nov. 21, 2009	Dec. 14, 2009	Feb. 14, 2009
Document and Company Information [Abstract]
Entity Registrant Name	AUTOZONE INC
Entity Central Index Key	0000866787
Document Type	10-Q
Document Period End Date	Nov. 21, 2009
Amendment Flag	false
Current Fiscal Year End Date	--08-28
Entity Well-known Seasoned Issuer	Yes
Entity Voluntary Filers	No
Entity Current Reporting Status	Yes
Entity Filer Category	Large Accelerated Filer
Entity Public Float			$ 7,449,415,374
Entity Common Stock, Shares Outstanding		49,496,251

Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets (Unaudited) - USD ($) $ in Thousands	Nov. 21, 2009	Aug. 29, 2009
Current assets:
Cash and cash equivalents	$ 79,603	$ 92,706
Accounts receivable	142,721	126,514
Merchandise inventories	2,262,823	2,207,497
Other current assets	132,794	135,013
Total current assets	2,617,941	2,561,730
Property and equipment:
Property and equipment	3,863,498	3,809,414
Less: Accumulated depreciation and amortization	1,494,652	1,455,057
Property and equipment, net	2,368,846	2,354,357
Other assets:
Goodwill, net of accumulated amortization	302,645	302,645
Deferred income taxes	55,154	59,067
Other long-term assets	41,237	40,606
Other noncurrent assets total	399,036	402,318
Total assets	5,385,823	5,318,405
Current liabilities:
Accounts payable	2,187,347	2,118,746
Accrued expenses and other	357,778	381,271
Income taxes payable	84,755	35,145
Deferred income taxes	174,500	171,590
Total current liabilities	2,804,380	2,706,752
Debt	2,739,500	2,726,900
Other liabilities	325,908	317,827
Stockholders' equity (deficit)	(483,965)	(433,074)
Liabilities and stockholders' equity	$ 5,385,823	$ 5,318,405

Condensed Consolidated Statements of Income (Unaudited) - USD ($) shares in Thousands, $ in Thousands	3 Months Ended
	Nov. 21, 2009	Nov. 22, 2008
Statement [Line Items]
Net sales	$ 1,589,244	$ 1,478,292
Cost of sales, including warehouse and delivery expenses	789,320	737,101
Gross profit	799,924	741,191
Operating, selling, general and administrative expenses	539,496	502,652
Operating profit	260,428	238,539
Interest expense, net	36,340	31,166
Income before income taxes	224,088	207,373
Income taxes	80,788	76,002
Net income	$ 143,300	$ 131,371
Weighted average shares for basic earnings per share	50,114	58,325
Effect of dilutive stock equivalents	710	590
Adjusted weighted average shares for diluted earnings per share	50,824	58,915
Basic earnings per share	$ 2.86	$ 2.25
Diluted earnings per share	$ 2.82	$ 2.23

Condensed Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows (Unaudited) - USD ($) $ in Thousands	3 Months Ended
	Nov. 21, 2009	Nov. 22, 2008
Cash flows from operating activities:
Net income	$ 143,300	$ 131,371
Adjustments to reconcile net income to net cash provided by operating activities:
Depreciation and amortization of property and equipment	42,566	40,153
Amortization of debt origination fees	1,489	620
Income tax benefit from exercise of stock options	(585)	(1,520)
Deferred income taxes	4,699	1,502
Share-based compensation expense	4,251	4,456
Changes in operating assets and liabilities:
Accounts receivable	(16,144)	3,054
Merchandise inventories	(54,418)	(53,828)
Accounts payable and accrued expenses	41,564	(47,291)
Income taxes payable	52,048	58,080
Other, net	12,111	4,187
Net cash provided by operating activities	230,881	140,784
Cash flows from investing activities:
Capital expenditures	(53,439)	(51,099)
Purchase of marketable securities	(2,203)	(5,281)
Proceeds from sale of marketable securities	1,325	5,270
Disposal of capital assets and other, net	1,619	4,498
Net cash used in investing activities	(52,698)	(46,612)
Cash flows from financing activities:
Net proceeds from commercial paper	12,600	18,900
Repayment of debt	0	(700)
Net proceeds from sale of common stock	3,821	8,062
Purchase of treasury stock	(204,379)	(272,123)
Income tax benefit from exercise of stock options	585	1,520
Payments of capital lease obligations	(4,492)	(3,979)
Net cash used in financing activities	(191,865)	(248,320)
Effect of exchange rate changes on cash	579	(2,557)
Net decrease in cash and cash equivalents	(13,103)	(156,705)
Cash and cash equivalents at beginning of period	92,706	242,461
Cash and cash equivalents at end of period	$ 79,603	$ 85,756

General	3 Months Ended
General	Nov. 21, 2009
General [Abstract]
General	Note A — General The accompanying unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements have been prepared in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles for interim financial information and with instructions to Form 10-Q and Article 10 of Regulation S-X. Accordingly, they do not include all of the information and footnotes required by U.S. generally accepted accounting principles for complete financial statements. In the opinion of management, all adjustments, including normal recurring accruals, considered necessary for a fair presentation have been included. For further information, refer to the consolidated financial statements and footnotes included in the 2009 Annual Report to Stockholders for AutoZone, Inc. (“AutoZone” or the “Company”) for the year ended August 29, 2009 (the “2009 Annual Report to Stockholders”). Operating results for the twelve weeks ended November 21, 2009, are not necessarily indicative of the results that may be expected for the fiscal year ending August 28, 2010. Each of the first three quarters of AutoZone’s fiscal year consists of 12 weeks, and the fourth quarter consists of 16 or 17 weeks. The fourth quarter for fiscal 2009 had 16 weeks and for fiscal 2010 will also have 16 weeks. Additionally, the Company’s business is somewhat seasonal in nature, with the highest sales generally occurring in the spring and summer months of March through September and the lowest sales generally occurring in the winter months of December through February. Recent Accounting Pronouncements: In June 2009, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) voted to approve the FASB Accounting Standards Codification (“ASC”) as the single source of authoritative nongovernmental U.S. generally accepted accounting principles. The ASC became effective for the Company commencing with the Company’s fiscal quarter beginning August 30, 2009. The ASC does not change U.S. generally accepted accounting principles, but combines all authoritative standards such as those issued by the FASB, the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and the Emerging Issues Task Force into a comprehensive, topically organized online database. On August 31, 2008, the Company adopted ASC 820 (formerly FASB Statement No. 157, “Fair Value Measurements”). This standard defines fair value, establishes a framework for measuring fair value in generally accepted accounting principles, and expands disclosures about fair value measurements. On August 30, 2009, the Company implemented the previously deferred provisions of ASC 820 for nonfinancial assets and liabilities recorded at fair value, as required. The adoption of this statement did not have a material impact on the consolidated financial statements. In December 2007, the FASB issued ASC 805 (formerly FASB Statement 141R, “Business Combinations”). This standard significantly changes the accounting for and reporting of business combinations in consolidated financial statements. Among other things, ASC 805 requires the acquiring entity in a business combination to recognize the full fair value of assets acquired and liabilities assumed at the acquisition date and requires the expensing of most transaction and restructuring costs. The Company adopted this standard effective August 30, 2009, and it is applicable only to transactions occurring after the effective date. In April 2009, the FASB issued ASC 825-10-65-1 (formerly FASB Staff Position No. 107-1 and Accounting Principles Board Opinion No. 28-1, “Interim Disclosures about Fair Value of Financial Instruments”), amending the disclosure requirements in ASC 825. ASC 825 now requires disclosures about the fair value of financial instruments for interim reporting periods in addition to annual reporting periods. The Company adopted these disclosures commencing with the fiscal quarter beginning August 30, 2009. In May 2009, the FASB issued ASC 855 (formerly FASB Statement No. 165, “Subsequent Events”), which establishes general standards of accounting for and disclosures of events that occur after the balance sheet date but before financial statements are issued or are available to be issued. Specifically, ASC 855 sets forth the period after the balance sheet date during which management of a reporting entity should evaluate events or transactions that may occur for potential recognition or disclosure in the financial statements, the circumstances under which an entity should recognize events or transactions occurring after the balance sheet date in its financial statements, and the disclosures that an entity should make about events or transactions that occurred after the balance sheet date. The Company adopted ASC 855 on August 29, 2009. Management has evaluated subsequent events through the date these financial statements were issued.

Share Based Payments

3 Months Ended

Nov. 21, 2009

Share-Based Payments [Abstract]

Share-Based Payments

Note B — Share-Based Payments

AutoZone recognizes compensation expense for share-based payments based on the fair value of the awards at the grant date. Share-based payments include stock option grants and the discount on shares sold to employees under share purchase plans. Additionally, directors may defer a portion of their fees in units with value equivalent to the value of shares of common stock as of the grant date.

Total share-based compensation expense (a component of operating, selling, general and administrative expenses) was $4.3 million for the twelve week period ended November 21, 2009, and was $4.5 million for the comparable prior year period.

During the twelve week period ended November 21, 2009, the Company made stock option grants of 474,087 shares. The Company granted options to purchase 567,942 shares during the comparable prior year period. The weighted average fair value of the stock option awards granted during the twelve week periods ended November 21, 2009, and November 22, 2008, using the Black-Scholes-Merton multiple-option pricing valuation model, was $40.08 and $33.64 per share, respectively, using the following weighted average key assumptions:


	Twelve Weeks Ended
	November 21,			November 22,
	2009			2008
Expected price volatility		31	%		27	%
Risk-free interest rate		1.7	%		2.5	%
Weighted average expected lives in years		4.3			4.1
Forfeiture rate		10.0	%		10.0	%
Dividend yield		0.0	%		0.0	%

See AutoZone’s 2009 Annual Report to Stockholders for a discussion of the methodologies employed in developing AutoZone’s assumptions used in determining the fair value of the option awards.

Fair Value Measurements

3 Months Ended

Nov. 21, 2009

Fair Value Measurements [Abstract]

Fair Value Measurements

Note C — Fair Value Measurements

The Company defines fair value as the price received to transfer an asset or paid to transfer a liability in an orderly transaction between market participants at the measurement date. The Company uses a hierarchy of valuation inputs to measure fair value.

The hierarchy prioritizes the inputs into three broad levels:

Level 1 inputs—unadjusted quoted prices in active markets for identical assets or liabilities that the Company has the ability to access. An active market for the asset or liability is one in which transactions for the asset or liability occur with sufficient frequency and volume to provide ongoing pricing information.

Level 2 inputs—inputs other than quoted market prices included in Level 1 that are observable, either directly or indirectly, for the asset or liability. Level 2 inputs include, but are not limited to, quoted prices for similar assets or liabilities in an active market, quoted prices for identical or similar assets or liabilities in markets that are not active and inputs other than quoted market prices that are observable for the asset or liability, such as interest rate curves and yield curves observable at commonly quoted intervals, volatilities, credit risk and default rates.

Level 3 inputs—unobservable inputs for the asset or liability.

The Company invests a portion of its assets held by the Company’s wholly owned insurance captive in marketable debt securities and classifies them as available-for-sale. The Company includes these securities within the other current assets caption and records the amounts at fair value, which is typically valued at the closing quoted price in the principal active market as of the last business day of the quarter (Level 1).

Unrealized gains and losses on these marketable securities are recorded in accumulated other comprehensive income, net of tax. The Company’s basis for determining the cost of a security sold is the “Specific Identification Model”. The Company’s available-for-sale marketable securities consisted of the following:


			Gross		Gross
	Amortized Cost		Unrealized		Unrealized
(in thousands)	Basis		Gains		Losses			Fair Value
November 21, 2009	$	69,042	$	1,763	$	(321	)	$	70,484

August 29, 2009	$	68,862	$	1,510	$	(334	)	$	70,038

The debt securities held at November 21, 2009, had maturities ranging from less than one year to approximately 16 years and consisted primarily of high grade corporate and government fixed income securities. The Company did not realize any material gains or losses on its marketable securities during the twelve week period ended November 21, 2009.

As of November 21, 2009, the Company holds four securities that are in an unrealized loss position. The Company has the intent and ability to hold these investments until recovery of fair value or maturity, and does not deem the investments to be impaired on an other than temporary basis. In evaluating whether the securities are deemed to be impaired on an other than temporary basis, the Company considers factors such as the duration and severity of the loss position, the credit worthiness of the issuer, the term to maturity and our intent and ability to hold the investments until maturity or until recovery of fair value.

Debt

3 Months Ended

Nov. 21, 2009

Debt [Abstract]

Debt

Note F — Debt

The Company’s debt consisted of the following:


	November 21,		August 29,
(in thousands)	2009		2009

4.75% Senior Notes due November 2010, effective interest rate of 4.17%	$	199,300	$	199,300
5.875% Senior Notes due October 2012, effective interest rate of 6.33%		300,000		300,000
4.375% Senior Notes due June 2013, effective interest rate of 5.65%		200,000		200,000
6.5% Senior Notes due January 2014, effective interest rate of 6.63%		500,000		500,000
5.75% Senior Notes due January 2015, effective interest rate of 5.89%		500,000		500,000
5.5% Senior Notes due November 2015, effective interest rate of 4.86%		300,000		300,000
6.95% Senior Notes due June 2016, effective interest rate of 7.09%		200,000		200,000
7.125% Senior Notes due August 2018, effective interest rate of 7.28%		250,000		250,000
Commercial paper, weighted average interest rate of 0.31% and 0.49% at November 21, 2009 and August 29, 2009, respectively		290,200		277,600

	$	2,739,500	$	2,726,900

As of November 21, 2009, the 4.75% Senior Notes due November 2010 and the commercial paper borrowings mature in the next twelve months but are classified as long-term in the accompanying Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheet, as the Company has the ability and intent to refinance them on a long-term basis.

The fair value of the Company’s debt was estimated at $2.935 billion as of November 21, 2009, and $2.853 billion as of August 29, 2009, based on the quoted market prices for the same or similar issues or on the current rates available to the Company for debt of the same remaining maturities. Such fair value is greater than the carrying value of debt by $195.4 million at November 21, 2009, and $126.5 million at August 29, 2009.

Segment Reporting

3 Months Ended

Nov. 21, 2009

Segment Reporting [Abstract]

Segment Reporting

Note I — Segment Reporting

The Company’s two operating segments (Domestic Auto Parts and Mexico) are aggregated as one reportable segment: Auto Parts Stores. The criteria the Company used to identify the reportable segment are primarily the nature of the products the Company sells and the operating results that are regularly reviewed by the Company’s chief operating decision maker to make decisions about the resources to be allocated to the business units and to assess performance. The accounting policies of the Company’s reportable segment are the same as those described in Note A in its 2009 Annual Report to Stockholders.

The Auto Parts Stores segment is a retailer and distributor of automotive parts and accessories through the Company’s 4,458 stores in the United States, including Puerto Rico, and Mexico. Each store carries an extensive product line for cars, sport utility vehicles, vans and light trucks, including new and remanufactured automotive hard parts, maintenance items, accessories and non-automotive products.

The Other category reflects business activities that are not separately reportable, including ALLDATA, which produces, sells and maintains diagnostic and repair information software used in the automotive repair industry, and E-commerce, which includes direct sales to customers through www.autozone.com.

The Company evaluates its reportable segment primarily on the basis of net sales and segment profit, which is defined as gross profit. Segment results for the periods presented are as follows:


	Twelve Weeks Ended
	November 21,		November 22,
(in thousands)	2009		2008

Net Sales
Auto Parts Stores	$	1,556,261	$	1,445,601
Other		32,983		32,691

Total	$	1,589,244	$	1,478,292


Segment Profit
Auto Parts Stores	$	772,998	$	714,020
Other		26,926		27,171

Gross profit		799,924		741,191
Operating, selling, general and administrative expenses		539,496		502,652
Interest expense, net		36,340		31,166

Income before income taxes	$	224,088	$	207,373

Inventories	3 Months Ended
Inventories	Nov. 21, 2009
Inventories [Abstract]
Inventories	Note D — Inventories Inventories are stated at the lower of cost or market using the last-in, first-out (LIFO) method for domestic inventories and the first-in, first-out (FIFO) method for Mexico inventories. Included in inventory are related purchasing, storage and handling costs. Due to price deflation on the Company’s merchandise purchases, the Company’s domestic inventory balances are effectively maintained under the FIFO method. The Company’s policy is not to write up inventory in excess of replacement cost. The cumulative balance of this unrecorded adjustment, which will be reduced upon experiencing price inflation on the Company’s merchandise purchases, was $232.4 million at November 21, 2009, and $223.0 million at August 29, 2009.

Stock Repurchase Program	3 Months Ended
Stock Repurchase Program	Nov. 21, 2009
Stock Repurchase Program [Abstract]
Stock Repurchase Program	Note G — Stock Repurchase Program From January 1, 1998 to November 21, 2009, the Company has repurchased a total of 116.8 million shares at an aggregate cost of $7.8 billion, including 1,417,584 shares of its common stock at an aggregate cost of $204.4 million during the twelve week period ended November 21, 2009. Considering cumulative repurchases as of November 21, 2009, the Company had $104.7 million remaining under the Board’s authorization to repurchase its common stock. On December 16, 2009, this authorization was increased by $500 million to raise the cumulative share repurchase authorization from $7.9 billion to $8.4 billion.