Financing (Details) (USD $)	12 Months Ended
	Oct. 01, 2011	Oct. 02, 2010
Short-term borrowings [Abstract]
Notes payable, non-interest bearing	$ 285,000	$ 229,000
Total short-term borrowings	40,285,000	40,229,000
Line of Credit Facility [Abstract]
Line of credit facility, interest rate at period end (in hundredths)	0.70%
Maturity date of line of credit	Oct. 31, 2011
Unsecured Line of Credit Facility [Member]
Short-term borrowings [Abstract]
Weighted average interest rate (in hundredths)	0.70%	0.80%
Line of Credit Facility [Abstract]
Line of credit facility, amount outstanding	40,000,000	40,000,000
Line of credit facility, interest rate description	LIBOR+0.45
Line of credit facility, borrowing capacity	75,000,000	75,000,000
Line of credit facility, remaining borrowing capacity	23,700,000
Line of credit facility, description of variable rate basis	ABR is the greater of the Prime Rate or the Federal Funds Effective Rate plus 0.5%
Prime rate as the applicable alternate base rate (ABR) (in hundredths)	3.25%
Line of credit facility, basis spread on variable rate, minimum (in hundredths)	0.64%
Line of credit facility, Basis Spread on Variable Rate, maximum (in hundredths)	0.94%
Line of credit facility, commitment fees payable, minimum (in hundredths)	0.09%
Line of credit facility, commitment fees payable, maximum (in hundredths)	0.18%
Commitment fees incurred on credit facility	100,000	100,000
Line of credit facility, covenant terms	The Company is subject to financial covenants, among other restrictions, under the Credit Facility, including, among other covenants, the ratio of consolidated total indebtedness to consolidated EBITDA, as well as the ratio of consolidated EBITDA to consolidated interest expense. These covenants restrict the Company's ability to pay dividends and purchase outstanding shares of common stock.
Line of credit facility, covenant compliance	At October 1, 2011 and October 2, 2010, the Company was in compliance with these financial covenants
Letters of Credit and Guarantees [Abstract]
Letters of credit outstanding, amount	11,300,000
Letters of Credit and Guarantees [Member]
Letters of Credit and Guarantees [Abstract]
Letters of credit outstanding, amount	18,600,000
Guarantees outstanding, amount	$ 26,900,000