Note 18 - Segment Information - Wholesale Shipments by Type (Details) - USD ($) $ in Thousands		3 Months Ended													12 Months Ended
		Nov. 28, 2020	[1]	Aug. 29, 2020	[2]	May 30, 2020	[3]	Feb. 29, 2020	Nov. 30, 2019	[4]	Aug. 31, 2019	Jun. 01, 2019	Mar. 02, 2019	[5]	Nov. 28, 2020	Nov. 30, 2019	Nov. 24, 2018
Sales revenue		$ 118,383		$ 91,559		$ 63,801		$ 112,120	$ 113,637		$ 109,419	$ 108,190	$ 120,841		$ 385,863	$ 452,087	$ 456,855
Wholesale Segment [Member]
Sales revenue															$ 221,075	$ 261,105	$ 255,958
Sales, revenue, percent															100.00%	100.00%	100.00%
Wholesale Segment [Member] | Upholstery [Member]
Sales revenue															$ 128,200	$ 152,415	$ 141,321
Sales, revenue, percent															58.00%	58.40%	55.20%
Wholesale Segment [Member] | Bassett Leather [Member]
Sales revenue															$ 21,436	$ 19,220	$ 21,589
Sales, revenue, percent															9.70%	7.40%	8.40%
Wholesale Segment [Member] | Bassett Custom Wood [Member]
Sales revenue															$ 39,311	$ 46,082	$ 46,074
Sales, revenue, percent															17.80%	17.60%	18.00%
Wholesale Segment [Member] | Bassett Casegoods [Member]
Sales revenue															$ 32,128	$ 40,920	$ 42,875
Sales, revenue, percent															14.50%	15.70%	16.80%
Wholesale Segment [Member] | Accessories [Member]
Sales revenue	[6]														$ 0	$ 2,468	$ 4,099
Sales, revenue, percent	[6]														0.00%	0.90%	1.60%

[1] Income from operations includes a gain of $1,161 arising from the settlement of a lease obligation (see Note 14).

[2] Net income includes a non-taxable gain of $915 arising from the recognition of a death benefit from Company-owned life insurance (see Note 14).

[3] Loss from operations reflects the severe impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on our operations due to the temporary closure of substantially all of our operations during the quarter (see Note 1) and includes a goodwill impairment charge of $1,971 (see Note 8), asset impairment charges of $12,184 and a litigation expense accrual of $1,050 (see Note 14). Net loss includes the benefit of carrying back the loss to tax years with 35% federal statutory rate as provided for in the CARES Act (see Note 13).

[4] Loss from operations includes a charge for the impairment of goodwill of $1,926 (see Note 8) and charges of $4,431, $700 and $149 for impairment of long-lived assets, litigation costs and lease termination costs, respectively (see Note 14).

[5] Income from operations includes a charge of $835 arising from certain eligible employees' acceptance of voluntary early retirement package (see Note 14).

[6] Beginning with the third quarter of fiscal 2019, our wholesale segment no longer purchases accessory items for resale to our retail segment or to third party customers such as licensees or independent furniture retailers. Our retail segment and third party customers now source their accessory items directly from the accessory vendors.