Selected Quarterly Data (Details) (USD $) In Millions, except Per Share data, unless otherwise specified	3 Months Ended																12 Months Ended
	Jan. 28, 2012		Oct. 29, 2011		Jul. 30, 2011		Apr. 30, 2011		Jan. 29, 2011		Oct. 30, 2010		Jul. 31, 2010		May 01, 2010		Jan. 28, 2012		Jan. 29, 2011		Jan. 30, 2010
Selected Quarterly Data [Line Items]
Net sales	$ 3,169		$ 2,383		$ 2,716		$ 2,229		$ 2,816		$ 2,087		$ 2,417		$ 1,990		$ 10,497		$ 9,310		$ 8,258
Same-store sales percentage change	7.10%	[1]	7.90%	[1]	7.30%	[1]	6.50%	[1]	6.70%	[1]	5.80%	[1]	8.40%	[1]	12.00%	[1]	7.20%	[1]	8.10%	[1]
Credit card revenues	97		95		94		94		100		95		98		97		380		390		369
Gross profit	1,196	[2]	872	[2]	993	[2]	844	[2]	1,058	[2]	756	[2]	852	[2]	747	[2]	3,905	[2]	3,413	[2]
Earnings before income taxes	379		209		290		241		373		190		240		188		1,119		991		696
Net earnings	236		127		175		145		232		119		146		116		683		613		441
Earnings per basic share	$ 1.13		$ 0.60		$ 0.81		$ 0.66		$ 1.06		$ 0.54		$ 0.67		$ 0.53		$ 3.20		$ 2.80		$ 2.03
Earnings per diluted share	$ 1.11		$ 0.59		$ 0.80		$ 0.65		$ 1.04		$ 0.53		$ 0.66		$ 0.52		$ 3.14		$ 2.75		$ 2.01
Retail [Member]
Selected Quarterly Data [Line Items]
Selling, general and administrative expense	818		670		708		611		697		569		613		533		2,807		2,412		2,109
Credit [Member]
Selected Quarterly Data [Line Items]
Selling, general and administrative expense	$ 58		$ 57		$ 59		$ 55		$ 55		$ 61		$ 65		$ 92		$ 229		$ 273		$ 356

[1] Same-store sales include sales from stores that have been open at least one full year at the beginning of the year. We also include sales from our Nordstrom online store in same-store sales because of the substantial integration of our Nordstrom full-line stores and online store.

[2] Gross profit is calculated as net sales less cost of sales and related buying and occupancy costs (for all segments).