Shareholders' Equity of the Company Exchange of Operating Partnership Units for Company Common Shares (Details) (Tanger Factory Outlet Centers, Inc [Member])	9 Months Ended	12 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2012 Units OperatingPartnershipUnits	Dec. 31, 2011 Units
Tanger Factory Outlet Centers, Inc [Member]
Entity Information [Line Items]
Number of Operating Partnership Units Owned by Family Limited Partners	1,230,490
Number of Operating Partnership Units Exchanged for Company Common Shares	6,569,932	641,328
Partners' Capital Account, Units, Converted	1,642,483	160,332
Stock Issued During Period, Shares, Conversion of Units	6,569,932
Potential Number of Common Shares to be Issued Upon Conversion of Operating Units	4,921,960