INCENTIVE PLANS AND STOCK-BASED COMPENSATION (Details 2) (Stock Options [Member])	6 Months Ended
Jun. 02, 2012 years	Mar. 23, 2009
Stock Options [Member]
Share-based Compensation Arrangement by Share-based Payment Award [Line Items]
Share-based Compensation Arrangement by Share-based Payment Award, Number of Shares Authorized		3,800,000
Number of years which shares can be granted under the Plan	10
Incentive Plan End Date	December 2019
Share-based Compensation Arrangement by Share-based Payment Award, Policy for Issuing Shares upon Exercise	Upon share option exercise or restricted stock unit award conversion, the Company issues new shares unless treasury shares are available
Share-based Compensation Arrangement by Share-based Payment Award, Description	Nonqualified stock options are granted at exercise prices equal to the market price of CLARCOR common stock at the date of grant, which is the date the Company’s Board of Directors approves the grant and the participants receive it. The Company’s Board of Directors determines the vesting requirements for stock options at the time of grant and may accelerate vesting
Share-based Compensation Arrangement by Share-based Payment Award, Award Vesting Rights	vest 25% per year beginning at the end of the first year; therefore, they become fully exercisable at the end of four years
Share-based Compensation Arrangement by Share-based Payment Award, Award Vesting Period	4
Share-based Compensation Arrangement by Share-based Payment Award, Terms of Award	Vesting may be accelerated in the event of retirement, disability or death of a participant or change in control of the Company. Options granted to non-employee directors vest immediately
Share-based Compensation Arrangement by Share-based Payment Award, Expiration Date	10

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Number of years which shares can be granted under the Plan

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The date when the equity-based award expires as specified in the award agreement, which may be presented in a variety of ways (for example, year, month and year, day, month and year, quarter of a year).

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Description of the period of time over which an employee's right to exercise an award is no longer contingent on satisfaction of either a service condition, market condition or a performance condition, which may be expressed in a variety of ways (for example, in years, month and year).

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Description of award terms as to how many shares or portion of an award are no longer contingent on satisfaction of either a service condition, market condition or a performance condition, thereby giving the employee the legal right to convert the award to shares, to sell the shares, and be entitled to the cash proceeds of such sale. For example, vesting may be expressed as being 25 percent of the shares under option on each anniversary of the grant date.

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General descriptive information regarding an arrangement under which employees and directors receive: (a) awards of equity shares, equity share options, or other equity instruments; or (b) the entity incurs liabilities to them: (1) in amounts based, at least in part, on the price of the entity's shares or other equity instruments; or (2) that require or may require settlement by issuance of the entity's shares. Such an arrangement is usually provided to employees and directors to compensate them, provide performance incentives to them, and to attract or retain their services. May also include pertinent information particular to a plan that is not elsewhere specified in the taxonomy.

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The maximum number of shares (or other type of equity) originally approved (usually by shareholders and board of directors), net of any subsequent amendments and adjustments, for awards under the equity-based compensation plan. As stock or unit options and equity instruments other than options are awarded to participants, the shares or units remain authorized and become reserved for issuance under outstanding awards (not necessarily vested).

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The policy, if any, for issuing shares (or other type of equity) upon exercise or conversion of equity-based awards into shares of stock or units, including the source of those shares or units (that is, new share, new unit, treasury shares or treasury units).

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Description of pertinent provisions of equity-based compensation awards that have actual or potential impact upon the company's financial statements.

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