Nature Of Operations And Summary Of Significant Accounting Policies (Narrative) (Details) (USD $) In Millions, unless otherwise specified	12 Months Ended
	Jan. 31, 2015 payment state	Feb. 01, 2014	Feb. 02, 2013
Nature Of Retail Operations [Line Items]
Number of states in which company operates	38
Number of provinces in which the company operates	1
Nordstrom Visa credit cards	2
Development incentive deferred rent credit	$ 570	$ 561
Advertising expense, net of vendor allowances	195	167	161
Shipping and handling cost, excluding inbound freight	348	267	240
Period at which unused gift card balance redemptions are deemed remote, years	5 years
Gift card breakage income	8	9	10
Gift card breakage rate	3.00%
Outstanding gift card liability	286	255
Amount recognized in uncertain tax positions	cumulatively greater than 50%
Checks not yet presented for payment drawn in excess of bank deposit balances	129	133
Period until which delinquent accounts are written off	180 days
Period until which finance charges are recognized on delinquent accounts	150 days
Number of consecutive minimum payments when non-accrual accounts return to accrual status	3
Long-lived tangible asset impairment	0	0	0
Amortizable intangible asset impairment	0	0	0
Amortization expense of intangible assets	10	10	19
Future amortization expense of intangible assets, 2015	16
Future amortization expense of intangible assets, 2016	15
Future amortization expense of intangible assets, 2017	11
Future amortization expense of intangible assets, 2018	7
Future amortization expense of intangible assets, 2019	7
Nordstrom Canada [Member]
Nature Of Retail Operations [Line Items]
Number of retail channels	5
Change In Accounting Policy [Member]
Nature Of Retail Operations [Line Items]
Period until which delinquent accounts are written off	150 days
Nordstrom - U.S. [Member]
Nature Of Retail Operations [Line Items]
Number of retail channels	116
Nordstrom Canada [Member]
Nature Of Retail Operations [Line Items]
Number of retail channels	1
Nordstrom Rack [Member]
Nature Of Retail Operations [Line Items]
Number of retail channels	167
Trunk Club [Member]
Nature Of Retail Operations [Line Items]
Number of retail channels	5
HauteLook [Member]
Nature Of Retail Operations [Line Items]
Goodwill	121
Jeffrey [Member]
Nature Of Retail Operations [Line Items]
Number of retail channels	2
Last Chance [Member]
Nature Of Retail Operations [Line Items]
Number of retail channels	1
Nordstrom.com and Jeffrey [Member]
Nature Of Retail Operations [Line Items]
Goodwill	$ 53