Long-Term Debt (Details) (USD $)	12 Months Ended																12 Months Ended				12 Months Ended		12 Months Ended				12 Months Ended	0 Months Ended		12 Months Ended				0 Months Ended			12 Months Ended
	Dec. 01, 2012	Dec. 03, 2011	Nov. 27, 2010	Dec. 01, 2012 Interest rate swap agreement	Dec. 03, 2011 Interest rate swap agreement	Nov. 27, 2010 Interest rate swap agreement	Dec. 01, 2012 Nonrecourse mortgages	Dec. 03, 2011 Nonrecourse mortgages	Dec. 01, 2012 Nonrecourse mortgages: 6.30%, due May 1, 2014	Dec. 03, 2011 Nonrecourse mortgages: 6.30%, due May 1, 2014	Dec. 01, 2012 Nonrecourse mortgages: 5.73%, due August 1, 2015	Dec. 03, 2011 Nonrecourse mortgages: 5.73%, due August 1, 2015	Dec. 01, 2012 Nonrecourse mortgages: 8.13%, due April 1, 2016	Dec. 03, 2011 Nonrecourse mortgages: 8.13%, due April 1, 2016	Dec. 01, 2012 Nonrecourse mortgages: 7.0%, due October 1, 2017	Dec. 03, 2011 Nonrecourse mortgages: 7.0%, due October 1, 2017	Dec. 01, 2012 Nonrecourse variable rate mortgage, due October 2, 2017 item	Jun. 15, 2012 Nonrecourse variable rate mortgage, due October 2, 2017 item	Dec. 03, 2011 Nonrecourse variable rate mortgage, due October 2, 2017	Dec. 01, 2012 Nonrecourse variable rate mortgage, due October 2, 2017 Interest rate swap agreement	Dec. 01, 2012 Nonrecourse variable rate mortgage, due February 1, 2019	Dec. 03, 2011 Nonrecourse variable rate mortgage, due February 1, 2019	Dec. 01, 2012 Nonrecourse variable rate mortgage, due February 1, 2019 Maximum	Dec. 01, 2012 Nonrecourse variable rate mortgage, due February 1, 2019 Interest rate swap agreement	Dec. 01, 2012 Nonrecourse variable rate mortgage, due August 1, 2019	Dec. 03, 2011 Nonrecourse variable rate mortgage, due August 1, 2019	Dec. 01, 2012 Nonrecourse variable rate mortgage, due August 1, 2019 Interest rate swap agreement item	Nov. 02, 2010 Nonrecourse mortgages: 5.25%, due January 28, 2020	Jan. 29, 2010 Nonrecourse mortgages: 5.25%, due January 28, 2020 sqft	Dec. 01, 2012 Nonrecourse mortgages: 5.25%, due January 28, 2020	Dec. 03, 2011 Nonrecourse mortgages: 5.25%, due January 28, 2020	Oct. 31, 2010 Nonrecourse mortgages: 5.25%, due January 28, 2020	Sep. 30, 2012 Nonrecourse mortgages: 6.08%, due January 1, 2013	Apr. 28, 2011 Revolving line of credit sqft	Dec. 01, 2012 Revolving line of credit	Apr. 28, 2011 Revolving line of credit Griffin Center South, Bloomfield, CT sqft	Dec. 01, 2012 Revolving line of credit Maximum	Dec. 01, 2012 Capital leases	Dec. 03, 2011 Capital leases	Nov. 27, 2010 Capital leases	Apr. 28, 2011 Prior revolving line of credit
Long-Term Debt
Interest rate (as a percent)									6.30%	6.30%	5.73%	5.73%	8.13%	8.13%	7.00%	7.00%														5.25%		6.50%	6.08%
Total	$ 59,561,000	$ 61,181,000					$ 59,489,000	$ 61,135,000	$ 289,000	$ 453,000	$ 19,018,000	$ 19,368,000	$ 3,943,000	$ 4,232,000	$ 6,016,000	$ 6,220,000			$ 6,926,000		$ 11,396,000	$ 11,609,000			$ 8,034,000	$ 8,176,000				$ 4,067,000	$ 4,151,000							$ 72,000	$ 46,000
Less: current portion	(1,869,000)	(1,700,000)
Total long-term debt	57,692,000	59,481,000
Annual principal payment requirements under the terms of the nonrecourse mortgage loans
2013							1,843,000
2014							1,862,000
2015							19,616,000
2016							3,923,000
2017							11,647,000
Debt disclosures
Aggregate book value of land and buildings pledged as collateral							61,600,000																												11,500,000
Number of subsidiaries																		2
Variable interest rate base																	one month LIBOR						thirty day LIBOR														prime
Variable interest rate margin (as a percent)																	2.75%						2.75%														1.50%
Variable interest rate percentage, option																							4.00%														5.875%
Fixed interest rate for the final nine years of the loan pursuant to interest rate swap agreement (as a percent)																				3.86%				6.35%
Amortization period of debt																	25 years				25 years									25 years
Number of collateralized industrial buildings																	2										4
Maximum borrowing capacity																																		12,500,000							10,000,000
Term of debt																					9 years									10 years				2 years
Area of collateralized properties (in square feet)																													120,000					48,000		235,000
Additional borrowings																													4,300,000
Payment in exchange for reduction in interest rate																												200,000
Notional principal amount of interest rate swap agreement																								12,000,000
Term of derivative																								9 years
Recognized losses (included in other comprehensive income), before taxes, on interest rate swap agreements	(776,000)	(934,000)	(711,000)	776,000	934,000	711,000
(Loss)/gain on swap agreements				666,000	730,000	575,000
Loss expected to be reclassified over next twelve months from other comprehensive income (loss) to interest expense				707,000
Liability for interest rate swap agreements included in other noncurrent liabilities				3,191,000	2,415,000
Future minimum lease payments under capital leases and the present value of such payments
2013																																						29,000
2014																																						25,000
2015																																						20,000
2016																																						4,000
Total minimum lease payments																																						78,000
Less: amounts representing interest																																						(6,000)
Present value of minimum lease payments																																						72,000
Current portion of present value of minimum lease payments																																						26,000
Capital leases
Amortization expense																																						36,000	39,000	59,000
Capital leases, gross	406,000	498,000
Accumulated amortization	(334,000)	(440,000)
Capital leases, net	$ 72,000	$ 58,000