Nature Of Operations And Summary Of Significant Accounting Policies (Narrative) (Details) $ in Millions	3 Months Ended								12 Months Ended
	Jan. 28, 2017 USD ($) store state province		Oct. 29, 2016 USD ($)	[1]	Jul. 30, 2016 USD ($)	[1]	Apr. 30, 2016 USD ($)	[1]	Jan. 28, 2017 USD ($) store state province	Jan. 30, 2016 USD ($)	Jan. 31, 2015 USD ($)
Nature Of Retail Operations [Line Items]
Number of states in which company operates | state	40								40
Number of provinces in which the company operates | province	3								3
Nordstrom Visa credit cards	2								2
Other current liabilities	$ 1,223								$ 1,223	$ 1,161
Nordstrom Rewards costs									162	164	$ 149
Development incentive deferred rent credit	507								507	526
Advertising expense, net of vendor allowances									241	227	195
Shipping and handling cost									$ 453	428	348
Period at which unused gift card balance redemptions are deemed remote, years									5 years
Gift card breakage income									$ 12	11	8
Gift card breakage rate									2.00%
Outstanding gift card liability	389								$ 389	327
Checks not yet presented for payment drawn in excess of bank deposit balances	156								156	152
Goodwill impairment	0	[1]	$ 197		$ 0		$ 0		197	0	0
Long-lived tangible asset impairment									0		0
Amortizable intangible asset impairment									0		0
Amortization expense of intangible assets									14	16	$ 10
Future amortization expense of intangible assets, 2017	11								11
Future amortization expense of intangible assets, 2018	7								7
Future amortization expense of intangible assets, 2019	7								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 Rewards [Member]
Nature Of Retail Operations [Line Items]
Other current liabilities	$ 62								$ 62	$ 62
Nordstrom - U.S. [Member]
Nature Of Retail Operations [Line Items]
Number of retail channels | store	118								118
Nordstrom Canada [Member]
Nature Of Retail Operations [Line Items]
Number of retail channels | store	5								5
Nordstrom Canada [Member] | Scenario, Plan [Member]
Nature Of Retail Operations [Line Items]
Number of retail channels | store	1								1
Nordstrom Rack [Member]
Nature Of Retail Operations [Line Items]
Number of retail channels | store	215								215
Trunk Club [Member]
Nature Of Retail Operations [Line Items]
Number of retail channels | store	7								7
Goodwill impairment									$ 197
Jeffrey [Member]
Nature Of Retail Operations [Line Items]
Number of retail channels | store	2								2
Last Chance [Member]
Nature Of Retail Operations [Line Items]
Number of retail channels | store	2								2

[1] Quarterly totals may not foot across due to rounding.