Long Term Borrowings (Details) (USD $) In Thousands, unless otherwise specified	3 Months Ended			3 Months Ended				3 Months Ended		3 Months Ended			3 Months Ended		3 Months Ended			3 Months Ended		3 Months Ended
	Dec. 29, 2012	Dec. 01, 2015	Sep. 29, 2012	Dec. 29, 2012 Amended Credit Agreement Due 2017 [Member]	Dec. 29, 2012 Amended Credit Agreement Due 2017 [Member] LIBOR [Member]	Dec. 29, 2012 Amended Credit Agreement Due 2017 [Member] Federal Funds Rate [Member]	Aug. 01, 2012 364-Day Facility [Member]	Dec. 29, 2012 Revolving Credit Facility [Member]	Sep. 29, 2012 Revolving Credit Facility [Member]	Dec. 29, 2012 Senior Notes Due 2018 [Member]	Sep. 29, 2012 Senior Notes Due 2018 [Member]	Aug. 01, 2012 Senior Notes Due 2018 [Member]	Dec. 29, 2012 Senior Notes Due 2020 [Member]	Sep. 29, 2012 Senior Notes Due 2020 [Member]	Dec. 29, 2012 7.375% senior notes due August 1, 2021 [Member]	Sep. 29, 2012 7.375% senior notes due August 1, 2021 [Member]	Aug. 01, 2012 7.375% senior notes due August 1, 2021 [Member]	Dec. 29, 2012 Amended Credit Agreement [Member] 364-Day Facility [Member]	Aug. 01, 2012 Amended Credit Agreement [Member] 364-Day Facility [Member]	Dec. 29, 2012 Amended Credit Agreement [Member] Revolving Credit Facility [Member]	Aug. 01, 2012 Amended Credit Agreement [Member] Revolving Credit Facility [Member]
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Long-term borrowings	$ 1,420,096		$ 1,422,078					$ 100,000	$ 100,000	$ 528,753	$ 529,923		$ 248,439	$ 248,385	$ 542,904	$ 543,770
Stated interest rate (in hundredths)										7.50%			7.375%		7.375%
Maturity date								Jan. 05, 2017		Oct. 01, 2018			Mar. 15, 2020		Aug. 01, 2021
Ownership interest in Suburban Energy Finance Corp (in hundredths)													100.00%
Net unamortized premium										32,196	33,366				39,461	40,327
Net unamortized discount													1,561	1,615
Date public offering completed										2012-08-01			2010-03-23
Percentage of interest owned in subsidiary (in hundredths)	100.00%
Aggregate principal amount										496,557			250,000		503,443
Fair value of debt at acquisition date (in hundredths)												106.875%					108.125%
Percentage of principal amount at which debt was issued (in hundredths)													99.136%
Percentage of the principal amount repurchase offer under change of control provision (in hundredths)													101.00%
Number of days after the consummation of the change of control that a rating decline may occur to trigger offer to repurchase debt													90 days
Revolving credit facility, term																				5 years
Credit Facility, maximum amount																		250,000	250,000	400,000	400,000
Amount drawn under credit facility																		225,000
Term Of Facility							364 days												364 days
Repayments of short-term borrowings																		225,000
Standby letters of credit issued under the Revolving Credit Facility								46,842
Available borrowing capacity under Revolving Credit Facility								253,158
Line of Credit Facility [Line Items]
Credit facility borrowings	100,000
Revolving Credit Facility and 2020 Senior Notes covenants [Abstract]
Consolidated interest coverage ratio, minimum	2.0 to 1.0
Total consolidated leverage ratio, maximum	7.0 to 1.0
Consolidated fixed charge coverage ratio, minimum	1.75 to 1
Increase in Consolidated fixed charge coverage ratio, minimum	2.0 to 1.0	2.5 to 1.0
Decrease in Consolidated fixed charge coverage ratio, minimum	5.75 to 1.0	4.75 to 1.0
Description of variable rate basis					LIBOR	Federal Funds Rate
Margin over basis rate (in hundredths)	1.00%				1.00%	0.50%
Weighted average interest rate (in hundredths)				3.40%
Interest rate swap agreement [Abstract]
Notional Amount	100,000
Effective date	Mar. 31, 2010			Jun. 25, 2013
Termination date	Jun. 25, 2013			Jan. 05, 2017
Fixed interest rate (in hundredths)	3.12%			1.63%
Long-term debt maturities [Abstract]
Long-term debt maturities, 2013	0
Long-term debt maturities, 2014	0
Long-term debt maturities, 2015	0
Long-term debt maturities, 2016	0
Long-term debt maturities, 2017	100,000
Long-term debt maturities, 2018 and thereafter	$ 1,250,000