General - Notes to Financial Statements	6 Months Ended
Jul. 31, 2021
General Dsiclosure [Abstract]
Summary of Significant Account Policies	NOTE 1 - GENERAL: The condensed consolidated financial statements have been prepared from the accounting records of The Cato Corporation and its wholly-owned subsidiaries (the “Company”), and all amounts shown as of and for the periods ended July 31, 2021 and August 1, 2020 are unaudited. In the opinion of management, all adjustments considered necessary for a fair presentation of the financial statements have been included. All such adjustments are of a normal, recurring nature unless otherwise noted. The results of the interim period may not be indicative of the results expected for the entire year. The interim financial statements should be read in conjunction with the consolidated financial statements and notes thereto, included in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended January 30, 2021. Amounts as of January 30, 2021 have been derived from the audited balance sheet, but do not include all disclosures required by accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America. Subsequent to July 31, 2021, the Company repurchased 168,390 shares for $2,802,850. COVID-19 Update The COVID-19 pandemic adversely impacted the Company's business, financial condition and operating results through fiscal 2020. The first and second quarters of 2021 saw significant improvements in sales compared to 2020. This improvement was primarily attributable to government stimulus, increased customer traffic, states lifting capacity limits as more people were vaccinated, consumers’ increasing comfort level with venturing out to social events and customers’ preparing to return to work. However, the Company’s sales were well below 2019 sales for the comparable period, and there is still a high level of uncertainty regarding the lingering effects of the pandemic, as well as renewed concerns over the impact of new, more transmissible variants of the virus, slowing vaccination rates and related factors that have in some cases slowed and may continue to slow progress toward the return to pre-pandemic activities and levels of consumer confidence. The Company faces additional uncertainty from the continued effects of disruption in the global supply chain and available workers as it attempts to hire associates as its operating hours continue to expand. The Company expects that these uncertainties and perhaps others related to the pandemic will continue to impact the Company in fiscal 2021 and possibly beyond. The adverse financial impacts associated with the continued effects of, and uncertainties related to, the COVID-19 pandemic include, but are not limited to, (i) lower net sales in markets affected by actual or potential adverse changes in conditions relating to the pandemic, whether due to increases in case counts, state and local orders, reductions in store traffic and customer demand, labor shortages, or all of these factors, (ii) lower net sales caused by the delay of inventory production and fulfillment, (iii) and incremental costs associated with efforts to mitigate the effects of the outbreak, including increased freight and logistics costs and other expenses. The extent to which the COVID-19 pandemic ultimately impacts the Company’s business, financial condition, results of operations, cash flows, and liquidity may differ from management’s current estimates due to inherent uncertainties regarding the duration and further spread of the outbreak or its variants, its severity, actions taken to contain the virus or treat its impact, and how quickly and to what extent normal economic and operating conditions can resume. While the Company currently anticipates a continuation of the adverse impacts of COVID-19 during 2021 and possibly beyond, the duration and severity of these effects will depend on the course of future developments, which are highly uncertain, including the relative speed and success of, as well as public confidence in, mitigation measures such as the current effort to vaccinate substantial portions of the U.S. and global population, emerging information regarding variants of the virus or new viruses and their potential impact on current mitigation efforts, public attitudes toward continued compliance with containment and mitigation measures, and possible new information and understanding that could alter the course and duration of current measures to combat the spread of the virus. Recently Adopted Accounting Policies In December 2019, the FASB issued ASU 2019-12, Income Taxes (Topic 740): Simplifying the Accounting for Income Taxes. The new accounting rules reduce complexity by removing specific exceptions to general principles related to intraperiod tax allocations, ownership changes in foreign investments, and interim period income tax accounting for year-to-date losses that exceed anticipated losses. The new accounting rules also simplify accounting for franchise taxes that are partially based on income, transactions with a government that result in a step up in the tax basis of goodwill, separate financial statements of legal entities that are not subject to tax, and enacted changes in tax laws in interim periods. The Company adopted this accounting standards update on the first day of the first quarter of 2021 with no material impact on its Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements.

General - Notes to Financial Statements

6 Months Ended

Jul. 31, 2021

NOTE 1 - GENERAL:

The condensed consolidated financial statements have been prepared from the accounting records of The Cato Corporation and its wholly-owned subsidiaries (the “Company”), and all amounts shown as of and for the periods ended July 31, 2021 and August 1, 2020 are unaudited. In the opinion of management, all adjustments considered necessary for a fair presentation of the financial statements have been included. All such adjustments are of a normal, recurring nature unless otherwise noted. The results of the interim period may not be indicative of the results expected for the entire year.

The interim financial statements should be read in conjunction with the consolidated financial statements and notes thereto, included in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended January 30, 2021. Amounts as of January 30, 2021 have been derived from the audited balance sheet, but do not include all disclosures required by accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America.

Subsequent to July 31, 2021, the Company repurchased 168,390 shares for $2,802,850.

COVID-19 Update

The COVID-19 pandemic adversely impacted the Company's business, financial condition and operating results through fiscal 2020. The first and second quarters of 2021 saw significant improvements in sales compared to 2020. This improvement was primarily attributable to government stimulus, increased customer traffic, states lifting capacity limits as more people were vaccinated, consumers’ increasing comfort level with venturing out to social events and customers’ preparing to return to work. However, the Company’s sales were well below 2019 sales for the comparable period, and there is still a high level of uncertainty regarding the lingering effects of the pandemic, as well as renewed concerns over the impact of new, more transmissible variants of the virus, slowing vaccination rates and related factors that have in some cases slowed and may continue to slow progress toward the return to pre-pandemic activities and levels of consumer confidence. The Company faces additional uncertainty from the continued effects of disruption in the global supply chain and available workers as it attempts to hire associates as its operating hours continue to expand. The Company expects that these uncertainties and perhaps others related to the pandemic will continue to impact the Company in fiscal 2021 and possibly beyond. The adverse financial impacts associated with the continued effects of, and uncertainties related to, the COVID-19 pandemic include, but are not limited to, (i) lower net sales in markets affected by actual or potential adverse changes in conditions relating to the pandemic, whether due to increases in case counts, state and local orders, reductions in store traffic and customer demand, labor shortages, or all of these factors, (ii) lower net sales caused by the delay of inventory production and fulfillment, (iii) and incremental costs associated with efforts to mitigate the effects of the outbreak, including increased freight and logistics costs and other expenses.

The extent to which the COVID-19 pandemic ultimately impacts the Company’s business, financial condition, results of operations, cash flows, and liquidity may differ from management’s current estimates due to inherent uncertainties regarding the duration and further spread of the outbreak or its variants, its severity, actions taken to contain the virus or treat its impact, and how quickly and to what extent normal economic and operating conditions can resume.

While the Company currently anticipates a continuation of the adverse impacts of COVID-19 during 2021 and possibly beyond, the duration and severity of these effects will depend on the course of future

developments, which are highly uncertain, including the relative speed and success of, as well as public confidence in, mitigation measures such as the current effort to vaccinate substantial portions of the U.S. and global population, emerging information regarding variants of the virus or new viruses and their potential impact on current mitigation efforts, public attitudes toward continued compliance with containment and mitigation measures, and possible new information and understanding that could alter the course and duration of current measures to combat the spread of the virus.

Recently Adopted Accounting Policies

In December 2019, the FASB issued ASU 2019-12, Income Taxes (Topic 740): Simplifying the Accounting for Income Taxes. The new accounting rules reduce complexity by removing specific exceptions to general principles related to intraperiod tax allocations, ownership changes in foreign investments, and interim period income tax accounting for year-to-date losses that exceed anticipated losses. The new accounting rules also simplify accounting for franchise taxes that are partially based on income, transactions with a government that result in a step up in the tax basis of goodwill, separate financial statements of legal entities that are not subject to tax, and enacted changes in tax laws in interim periods. The Company adopted this accounting standards update on the first day of the first quarter of 2021 with no material impact on its Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements.