Impairment and Store Dispositions, Net (Details) (USD $) In Thousands, unless otherwise specified	3 Months Ended		12 Months Ended
	Jan. 28, 2011	Oct. 29, 2010	Jul. 29, 2011	Jul. 30, 2010	Jul. 31, 2009	Jul. 29, 2011 Owned Store [Member]	Dec. 31, 2010 Owned Store [Member]	Jul. 30, 2010 Owned Store [Member]	Jul. 31, 2009 Owned Store [Member]	Jul. 29, 2011 Leased Store [Member]	Jul. 30, 2010 Leased Store [Member]	Jul. 29, 2011 Office Space [Member]	Jul. 31, 2009 Office Space [Member]	Aug. 01, 2008 Office Space [Member]
Impairment and store dispositions [Abstract]
Impairment			$ 3,219	$ 2,672	$ 2,088
Schedule of Impaired Long-Lived Assets Held and Used, Held for Sale or Disposed [Line Items]
Gains on disposition of stores			(4,109)	0	0	485
Store closing costs			265	128	0
Total	1	83	(625)	2,800	2,088
Impairment charges incurred during the period								409	933	2,175	2,263	1,044	1,155
Store closing charges						84		128
Number of stores determined to be impaired									1	1	1
Number of stores closed during the period							1							2
Net proceeds from store closing						1,054
Net proceeds from condemnation award			6,576
Condemnation gain			3,624
Store closing costs with condemnation award			$ 181