Summarized Financial Information of Anixter, Inc. (Details 2)	6 Months Ended
Jul. 01, 2011
Summarized Financial Information of Subsidiary (Textuals) [Abstract]
Description of guarantees given by parent company	The Company guarantees, fully and unconditionally, substantially all of the debt of its subsidiaries, which include Anixter Inc. The Company has no independent assets or operations and all subsidiaries other than Anixter Inc. are minor. The following summarizes the financial information for Anixter Inc. (in millions):

Description of guarantees issued by the registrant unless separately disclosed in the consolidated statements.

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 460
-SubTopic 10
-Section 50
-Paragraph 4
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6851643&loc=d3e12069-110248

Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 235
-SubTopic 10
-Section S99
-Paragraph 3
-Subparagraph (SX 210.12-04.(a))
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6881521&loc=d3e24072-122690

Reference 3: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name FASB Interpretation (FIN)
-Number 45
-Paragraph 13
-LegacyDoc This reference is SUPERSEDED by the Accounting Standards Codification effective for interim and annual periods ending after September 15, 2009. This reference is included to help users transition from the previous accounting hierarchy and will be removed from future versions of this taxonomy.

Reference 4: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 470
-SubTopic 10
-Section S99
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (SX 210.3-10.(b),(c),(d))
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6879342&loc=d3e168853-122756

Reference 5: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher SEC
-Name Regulation S-X (SX)
-Number 210
-Section 04
-Paragraph a
-Article 12

Reference 6: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher SEC
-Name Regulation S-X (SX)
-Number 210
-Section 10
-Paragraph b, c, d
-Article 3

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