Sale of Proprietary Credit Card Receivables Programs (Details) (USD $)	12 Months Ended
	Jan. 28, 2012	Jan. 29, 2011	Jan. 30, 2010
Sale of Proprietary Credit Card Receivables Programs [Abstract]
One-time Net Charges Recognized as a Result of Sale of Proprietary Credit Card Receivables Programs	$ 0	$ 0	$ 14,237,000
Component of the investment in asset-backed securities comprising the net sales proceeds: outstanding trust certificates	0	0	51,250,000
Component of the investment in asset-backed securities comprising the net sales proceeds: cash account balances			60,922,000
Component of the investment in asset-backed securities comprising the net sales proceeds: interest-only strip			21,714,000
Component of the investment in asset-backed securities comprising the net sales proceeds: other retained interests			2,761,000
Net Proceeds From Sale of Proprietary Credit Card Receivables Programs			136,647,000
Gross Proceeds From Sale of Proprietary Credit Card Receivables Programs			166,647,000
Gross proceeds from sale of proprietary credit card receivables programs used to terminate contractual obligations and for exit costs			22,000,000
Gross proceeds used to reimburse third party transitional services			$ 8,000,000