Nature Of Operations And Summary Of Significant Accounting Policies (Narrative) (Details) $ in Millions	12 Months Ended
	Jan. 30, 2016 USD ($) store state	Jan. 31, 2015 USD ($)	Feb. 01, 2014 USD ($)	Aug. 22, 2014 USD ($)
Nature Of Retail Operations [Line Items]
Number of states in which company operates | state	39
Number of provinces in which the company operates	3
Nordstrom Visa credit cards	2
Development incentive deferred rent credit	$ 526	$ 570
Advertising expense, net of vendor allowances	227	195	$ 167
Shipping and handling cost	$ 428	348	267
Period at which unused gift card balance redemptions are deemed remote, years	5 years
Gift card breakage income	$ 11	8	9
Gift card breakage rate	3.00%
Outstanding gift card liability	$ 327	286
Amount recognized in uncertain tax positions	cumulatively greater than 50%
Checks not yet presented for payment drawn in excess of bank deposit balances	$ 152	129
Long-lived tangible asset impairment		0	0
Amortizable intangible asset impairment		0	0
Amortization expense of intangible assets	16	$ 10	$ 10
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
Future amortization expense of intangible assets, 2020	7
Retail store [Member]
Nature Of Retail Operations [Line Items]
Asset impairment charges	24
Other [Member]
Nature Of Retail Operations [Line Items]
Asset impairment charges	$ 23
Nordstrom - U.S. [Member]
Nature Of Retail Operations [Line Items]
Number of retail channels | store	118
Nordstrom Canada [Member]
Nature Of Retail Operations [Line Items]
Number of retail channels | store	3
Nordstrom Canada [Member] | Scenario, Plan [Member]
Nature Of Retail Operations [Line Items]
Number of retail channels | store	4
Nordstrom Rack [Member]
Nature Of Retail Operations [Line Items]
Number of retail channels | store	194
Trunk Club [Member]
Nature Of Retail Operations [Line Items]
Number of retail channels | store	5
Goodwill	$ 261			$ 261
Jeffrey [Member]
Nature Of Retail Operations [Line Items]
Number of retail channels | store	2
Last Chance [Member]
Nature Of Retail Operations [Line Items]
Number of retail channels | store	1
HauteLook [Member]
Nature Of Retail Operations [Line Items]
Goodwill	$ 121
Nordstrom.com and Jeffrey [Member]
Nature Of Retail Operations [Line Items]
Goodwill	$ 53