Condensed Consolidated Statements Of Operations (USD $) In Thousands, except Share data, unless otherwise specified	3 Months Ended
	Dec. 24, 2011	Dec. 25, 2010
Condensed Consolidated Statements Of Operations [Abstract]
Net sales	$ 302,066	$ 281,719
Cost of goods sold and occupancy	221,328	198,662
Gross profit	80,738	83,057
Selling, general and administrative expenses	92,018	89,540
Loss from operations	(11,280)	(6,483)
Interest expense	(9,547)	(9,039)
Interest income	28	133
Other expense	(114)	(406)
Loss before income taxes and noncontrolling interest	(20,913)	(15,795)
Income tax benefit	(7,646)	(6,117)
Loss including noncontrolling interest	(13,267)	(9,678)
Net loss attributable to noncontrolling interest	(177)	(86)
Net loss attributable to Central Garden & Pet Company	$ (13,090)	$ (9,592)
Net loss per share attributable to Central Garden & Pet Company:
Basic and diluted	$ (0.27)	$ (0.16)
Weighted average shares used in the computation of net loss per share:
Basic and diluted	47,823	60,941