Employee Benefit Plans (Tables)

12 Months Ended

Sep. 29, 2012

Employee Benefit Plans [Abstract]

Schedule of defined benefit plans disclosure

Projected Benefit Obligation, Fair Value of Plan Assets and Funded Status. The following tables provide a reconciliation of the changes in the benefit obligations and the fair value of the plan assets for fiscal 2012 and 2011 and a statement of the funded status for both years. Under the Partnership’s cash balance defined benefit pension plan, the accumulated benefit obligation and the projected benefit obligation are the same.

	Pension Benefits						Retiree Health and Life Benefits
	2012			2011			2012			2011
Reconciliation of benefit obligations:
Benefit obligation at beginning of year	$	159,119		$	157,626		$	20,895		$	20,932
Service cost		—			—			7			7
Interest cost		6,311			6,822			802			855
Actuarial loss (gain)		14,089			9,165			(74	)		631
Lump sum benefits paid		(5,498	)		(6,365	)		—			—
Ordinary benefits paid		(8,115	)		(8,129	)		(1,398	)		(1,530	)
Benefit obligation at end of year	$	165,906		$	159,119		$	20,232		$	20,895
Reconciliation of fair value of plan assets:
Fair value of plan assets at beginning of year	$	132,898		$	139,889		$	—		$	—
Actual return on plan assets		14,588			7,503			—			—
Employer contributions		—			—			1,398			1,530
Lump sum benefits paid		(5,498	)		(6,365	)		—			—
Ordinary benefits paid		(8,115	)		(8,129	)		(1,398	)		(1,530	)
Fair value of plan assets at end of year	$	133,873		$	132,898		$	—		$	—
Funded status:
Funded status at end of year	$	(32,033	)	$	(26,221	)	$	(20,232	)	$	(20,895	)
Amounts recognized in consolidated balance sheets consist of:
Net amount recognized at end of year	$	(32,033	)	$	(26,221	)	$	(20,232	)	$	(20,895	)
Less: Current portion		—			—			1,427			1,669
Non-current benefit liability	$	(32,033	)	$	(26,221	)	$	(18,805	)	$	(19,226	)
Amounts not yet recognized in net periodic benefit cost and included in accumulated other comprehensive income (loss):
Actuarial net (loss) gain	$	(59,397	)	$	(59,502	)	$	1,899		$	1,825
Prior service credits		—			—			1,869			2,358
Net amount recognized in accumulated other comprehensive (loss) income	$	(59,397	)	$	(59,502	)	$	3,768		$	4,183

Percentage allocation of plan assets

The following table presents the actual allocation of assets held in trust as of:

	September			September
	29, 2012			24, 2011
Fixed income securities		85	%		88	%
Equity securities		15	%		12	%
		100	%		100	%

Schedule of measurement of partnership's pension plan assets by category

The following table describes the measurement of the Partnership’s pension plan assets by asset category as of:

	September 29, 2012		September 24, 2011
Short term investments (1)	$	1,309	$	1,439
Equity securities: (1) (2)
Domestic		13,651		10,823
International		6,263		5,342
Fixed income securities (1) (3)		112,650		115,294
	$	133,873	$	132,898

(1) Includes funds which are not publicly traded and are valued at the net asset value of the units provided by the fund issuer.

(2) Includes funds which invest primarily in a diversified portfolio of publicly traded US and Non-US common stock.

(3) Includes funds which invest primarily in publicly traded and non-publicly traded, investment grade corporate bonds, U.S. government bonds and asset-backed securities.

Schedule of expected benefit payments

Projected Contributions and Benefit Payments. There are no projected minimum funding requirements under the Partnership’s defined benefit pension plan for fiscal 2013. Estimated future benefit payments for both pension and retiree health and life benefits are as follows:

Fiscal Year	Pension Benefits		Retiree Health and Life Benefits
2013	$	30,486	$	1,427
2014		13,702		1,369
2015		12,695		1,301
2016		12,384		1,224
2017		11,188		1,141
2018 through 2022		49,163		4,483

Schedule of net benefit costs

Effect on Operations. The following table provides the components of net periodic benefit costs included in operating expenses for fiscal 2012, 2011 and 2010:

	Pension Benefits									Retiree Health and Life Benefits
	2012			2011			2010			2012			2011			2010
Service cost	$	—		$	—		$	—		$	7		$	7		$	7
Interest cost		6,311			6,822			7,503			802			855			1,013
Expected return on plan assets		(5,665	)		(6,295	)		(8,080	)		—			—			—
Amortization of prior service credit		—			—			—			(490	)		(490	)		(490	)
Settlement charge		—			—			2,818			—			—			—
Recognized net actuarial loss		5,271			4,721			5,374			—			(35	)		(65	)
Net periodic benefit costs	$	5,917		$	5,248		$	7,615		$	319		$	337		$	465

Schedule of assumptions used

Actuarial Assumptions. The assumptions used in the measurement of the Partnership’s benefit obligations as of September 29, 2012 and September 24, 2011 are shown in the following table:

	Pension Benefits						Retiree Health and Life Benefits
	2012			2011			2012			2011
Weighted-average discount rate		3.500	%		4.375	%		3.000	%		4.000	%
Average rate of compensation increase		n/a			n/a			n/a			n/a
Health care cost trend		n/a			n/a			7.530	%		7.740	%

The assumptions used in the measurement of net periodic pension benefit and postretirement benefit costs for fiscal 2012, 2011 and 2010 are shown in the following table:

	Pension Benefits									Retiree Health and Life Benefits
	2012			2011			2010			2012			2011			2010
Weighted-average discount rate		4.375	%		4.750	%		5.125	%		4.000	%		4.250	%		5.000	%
Average rate of compensation increase		n/a			n/a			n/a			n/a			n/a			n/a
Weighted-average expected long- term rate of return on plan assets		4.800	%		5.000	%		6.250	%		n/a			n/a			n/a
Health care cost trend		n/a			n/a			n/a			7.740	%		7.950	%		8.150	%