LONG-TERM DEBT (Details) (USD $)					12 Months Ended			1 Months Ended	12 Months Ended		12 Months Ended							1 Months Ended		12 Months Ended						1 Months Ended	12 Months Ended						12 Months Ended				1 Months Ended	3 Months Ended	12 Months Ended		3 Months Ended	12 Months Ended
	Jul. 31, 2013	Jul. 31, 2012	Jul. 31, 2013 Interest rate swaps October 2013 - July 2014 Cash flow hedges	Jul. 31, 2013 Interest rate swaps August 2014 - July 2016 Cash flow hedges	Jul. 31, 2013 Revolving credit agreement	Jul. 31, 2012 Revolving credit agreement	Jul. 31, 2011 Revolving credit agreement	Jul. 31, 2012 Amended Credit Agreement	Jul. 31, 2013 Amended Credit Agreement	Jul. 24, 2012 Amended Credit Agreement	Jul. 31, 2013 Amended Credit Agreement Minimum	Jul. 31, 2013 Amended Credit Agreement August through September 2013 Minimum	Jul. 31, 2013 Amended Credit Agreement August through September 2013 Maximum	Jul. 31, 2013 Amended Credit Agreement October through December 2013 Minimum	Jul. 31, 2013 Amended Credit Agreement October through December 2013 Maximum	Jul. 31, 2013 Amended Credit Agreement January through July 2014 Minimum	Jul. 31, 2013 Amended Credit Agreement January through July 2014 Maximum	Jul. 31, 2012 FILO Facility	Jul. 24, 2012 FILO Facility	Jul. 31, 2013 FILO Facility LIBOR	Jul. 31, 2013 FILO Facility Base rate	Jul. 31, 2013 FILO Facility Minimum LIBOR	Jul. 31, 2013 FILO Facility Minimum Base rate	Jul. 31, 2013 FILO Facility Maximum LIBOR	Jul. 31, 2013 FILO Facility Maximum Base rate	Jul. 31, 2012 Amended Credit Agreement (excluding the FILO Facility)	Jul. 31, 2013 Amended Credit Agreement (excluding the FILO Facility) LIBOR	Jul. 31, 2013 Amended Credit Agreement (excluding the FILO Facility) Base rate	Jul. 31, 2013 Amended Credit Agreement (excluding the FILO Facility) Minimum LIBOR	Jul. 31, 2013 Amended Credit Agreement (excluding the FILO Facility) Minimum Base rate	Jul. 31, 2013 Amended Credit Agreement (excluding the FILO Facility) Maximum LIBOR	Jul. 31, 2013 Amended Credit Agreement (excluding the FILO Facility) Maximum Base rate	Jul. 31, 2013 Revolving credit prior to amended and restated revolving credit agreement	Jul. 31, 2013 Senior Secured Term Loan	Jul. 31, 2012 Senior Secured Term Loan	Jul. 31, 2011 Senior Secured Term Loan	Jul. 31, 2012 Senior secured term loan amended July 24, 2012	Jul. 31, 2012 Senior secured term loan amended July 24, 2012	Jul. 31, 2013 Senior secured term loan amended July 24, 2012	Jul. 31, 2013 Senior secured term loan amended July 24, 2012 Minimum	Jul. 31, 2012 Senior secured term loan amended September 2010	Jul. 31, 2013 Senior secured term loan amended September 2010	Jul. 31, 2011 Senior secured term loan prior to September 2010 amendment	Jul. 31, 2011 Senior secured term loan prior to September 2010 amendment Warrant	Jul. 31, 2013 Capital lease obligations	Jul. 31, 2012 Capital lease obligations
Long-term debt
Long-term debt	$ 410,050,000	$ 452,908,000			$ 327,200,000	$ 369,800,000																												$ 80,000,000	$ 80,000,000										$ 2,850,000	$ 3,108,000
Maximum borrowing capacity										665,000,000									15,000,000
Maturity date								Jul. 24, 2017
Borrowing capacity description								Borrowings under the Amended Credit Agreement (excluding the FILO Facility) are limited to a borrowing base equal to 90 percent of the appraised liquidation value of eligible inventory (less certain reserves that may be established under the agreement), plus 90 percent of eligible credit card receivables. Borrowings under the FILO Facility are limited to a borrowing base equal to the lesser of: (i) 2.5 percent of the appraised liquidation value of eligible inventory or (ii) 15 million. The Amended Credit Agreement is secured by a first priority security interest and lien on merchandise inventory, credit card receivables and certain other assets and a second priority security interest and lien on all other assets. Based on the most recent inventory appraisal, the monthly borrowing rates calculated from the cost of eligible inventory range from 69 to 72 percent for the period of August through September 2013, 81 to 83 percent for the period of October through December 2013 and 68 to 73 percent for the period of January through July 2014.
Percentage of appraised liquidation value of eligible inventory used to calculate cap amount																		2.50%								90.00%											107.50%
Percentage of eligible credit card receivables																										90.00%											100.00%
Percentage of cost of eligible inventory used to calculate monthly borrowing rates												69.00%	72.00%	81.00%	83.00%	68.00%	73.00%
Variable interest rate base																				LIBOR	Base rate						LIBOR	Base rate
Variable interest rate margin (as a percent)																						3.50%	2.50%	4.00%	3.00%				1.75%	0.75%	2.25%	1.25%
Quarterly unused commitment fee (as a percent)								0.375%
Interest rate swaps disclosures
Notional Amount			215,000,000	215,000,000
Fixed Interest Rate			0.29%	1.19%
Covenant terms of revolving credit facility								If excess availability (as defined in the Amended Credit Agreement) falls below certain levels we will be required to maintain a minimum fixed charge coverage ratio of 1.0. Borrowing availability was approximately $242 million as of July 31, 2013, which exceeded the excess availability requirement by $185 million. The fixed charge coverage ratio was 2.72 as of July 31, 2013. The Amended Credit Agreement contains various other covenants including restrictions on the incurrence of certain indebtedness, payment of dividends, liens, investments, acquisitions and asset sales. As of July 31, 2013, we were in compliance with all covenants.
Fixed charge coverage ratio									2.72		1.0																													1.0
Remaining borrowing capacity									242,000,000
Remaining borrowing capacity in excess of minimum availability requirement									185,000,000
Debt issuance costs					12,100,000																																	4,400,000
Interest paid					10,600,000	14,300,000	10,400,000																											8,900,000	20,800,000	21,700,000
Prepayment of outstanding principal balance																																										60,500,000
Principal amount of debt issued																																					80,000,000
Term loan restrictions on revolving credit agreement																																					The Amended Term Loan totals $80.0 million, matures in July 2017 and is subject to a borrowing base equal to: (i) 107.5 percent of the appraised liquidation value of eligible inventory plus (ii) 100 percent of credit card receivables and an amount equal to the lesser of $40 million or 100 percent of the appraised liquidation value of intellectual property minus (iii) the borrowing base under the Amended Credit Agreement. In the event the outstanding principal under the Amended Term Loan exceeds the Amended Term Loan borrowing base, availability under the Amended Credit Agreement would be reduced by the excess. As of July 31, 2013, the outstanding principal under the Amended Term Loan did not exceed the borrowing base.
Borrowing cap amount attributable to appraised liquidation value of intellectual property																																					40,000,000	40,000,000
Percentage of appraised liquidation value of intellectual property used to calculate cap amount																																					100.00%
Interest rate (as a percent)																																							11.00%
Penalty on repayment of debt during the second year (as a percent)																																							4.00%
Penalty on repayment of debt during the third year (as a percent)																																							3.00%
Penalty on repayment of debt during the fourth year (as a percent)																																							2.00%
Penalty on repayment of debt during the fifth year (as a percent)																																							0.00%
Covenant terms of senior secured term loan																																					The Amended Term Loan includes various covenants which are consistent with the covenants in the Amended Credit Agreement, including restrictions on the incurrence of certain indebtedness, payment of dividends, liens, investments, acquisitions, asset sales and the requirement to maintain a minimum fixed charge coverage ratio of 1.0 if excess availability thresholds under the Amended Credit Agreement are not maintained. As of July 31, 2013, we were in compliance with all covenants.
Life of the credit agreement									5 years																														5 years
Fees charged to earnings associated with debt amendment																																											12,500,000
Interest expense																																						2,000,000					45,800,000
Unamortized debt issuance costs charged to interest expense																																	6,500,000										10,300,000	20,300,000
Unamortized debt issuance costs charged to other assets										5,600,000																													2,400,000
Prepayment premium																																									3,000,000
Prepayment premium and other costs charged to interest expense																																											$ 2,700,000