Nature Of Operations And Summary Of Significant Accounting Policies (Narrative) (Details)	1 Months Ended	2 Months Ended	3 Months Ended																9 Months Ended	11 Months Ended	12 Months Ended
	Feb. 03, 2018 USD ($)	Mar. 20, 2020 USD ($)	Feb. 01, 2020 USD ($) store state province		Nov. 02, 2019 USD ($)	[1]	Aug. 03, 2019 USD ($)	[1]	May 04, 2019 USD ($)	[1]	Feb. 02, 2019 USD ($)		Nov. 03, 2018 USD ($)		Aug. 04, 2018 USD ($)	[1]	May 05, 2018 USD ($)		Nov. 02, 2019	Dec. 31, 2017	Feb. 01, 2020 USD ($) store state province businesses	Feb. 02, 2019 USD ($)	Feb. 03, 2018 USD ($)	Jan. 28, 2017 USD ($)
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
Cash and cash equivalents	$ 1,181,000,000		$ 853,000,000								$ 957,000,000										$ 853,000,000	$ 957,000,000	$ 1,181,000,000	$ 1,007,000,000
Other current liabilities			1,190,000,000								1,324,000,000										1,190,000,000	1,324,000,000
Outstanding gift card liability			414,000,000								389,000,000										414,000,000	389,000,000
Gift card breakage income																					17,000,000	14,000,000	16,000,000
Estimated Nordstrom cardmembers to receive a refund													4.00%
Amount of customer refund or credit													$ 100
Advertising expense, net of vendor allowances																					299,000,000	246,000,000	261,000,000
Selling, general and administrative expenses			1,355,000,000	[1]	$ 1,135,000,000		$ 1,180,000,000		$ 1,138,000,000		1,308,000,000	[1]	1,208,000,000	[1]	$ 1,232,000,000		$ 1,120,000,000	[1]			$ 4,808,000,000	$ 4,868,000,000	$ 4,662,000,000
U.S. federal corporate income tax statutory rate	21.00%																			35.00%	21.00%	21.00%	33.70%
Checks not yet presented for payment drawn in excess of bank deposit balances			110,000,000								102,000,000										$ 110,000,000	$ 102,000,000
Number of reporting units																			3
Goodwill	$ 238,000,000		249,000,000								249,000,000										249,000,000	249,000,000	$ 238,000,000	$ 238,000,000
Amortization expense of intangible assets																					7,000,000	11,000,000	11,000,000
Impairment of intangible assets																					11,000,000
No future amortization expense will be recorded			0																		$ 0
Series of Individually Immaterial Business Acquisitions [Member]
Nature Of Retail Operations [Line Items]
Number of retail technology companies acquired | businesses																					2
Goodwill																	$ 11,000,000
Shipping and handling [Member]
Nature Of Retail Operations [Line Items]
Selling, general and administrative expenses																					$ 627,000,000	589,000,000	$ 523,000,000
Pre-Tax [Member]
Nature Of Retail Operations [Line Items]
Pre-tax dollar impact of Estimated Non-recurring Charge													72,000,000
Post-Tax [Member]
Nature Of Retail Operations [Line Items]
Pre-tax dollar impact of Estimated Non-recurring Charge													$ 49,000,000
Nordstrom Rewards [Member]
Nature Of Retail Operations [Line Items]
Other current liabilities			$ 162,000,000								$ 159,000,000										$ 162,000,000	159,000,000
Loyalty Program, Nordstrom Notes [Member]
Nature Of Retail Operations [Line Items]
Breakage rate			8.00%																		8.00%
Average period between issuance and redemption																					9 months
Loyalty Program, Points [Member]
Nature Of Retail Operations [Line Items]
Breakage rate			16.00%																		16.00%
Gift Cards [Member]
Nature Of Retail Operations [Line Items]
Breakage rate			2.00%																		2.00%
Average period between issuance and redemption																					2 years
Accounting Standards Update 2014-09 [Member]
Nature Of Retail Operations [Line Items]
Cumulative effect of adopted accounting standards																						55,000,000
Accounting Standards Update 2018-02 [Member]
Nature Of Retail Operations [Line Items]
Cumulative effect of adopted accounting standards																						$ 5,000,000
Subsequent Event [Member]
Nature Of Retail Operations [Line Items]
Draw down on our Revolver		$ 800,000,000
Unsecured revolving credit facility [Member]
Nature Of Retail Operations [Line Items]
Option to increase the maximum capacity of revolving credit facility			$ 200,000,000																		$ 200,000,000
Maximum borrowing capacity			1,000,000,000																		1,000,000,000
Commercial Paper [Member] | Unsecured revolving credit facility [Member]
Nature Of Retail Operations [Line Items]
Total short-term borrowing capacity			$ 800,000,000																		$ 800,000,000
Nordstrom - U.S. [Member]
Nature Of Retail Operations [Line Items]
Number of retail channels | store			110																		110
Nordstrom Canada [Member]
Nature Of Retail Operations [Line Items]
Number of retail channels | store			6																		6
Nordstrom Rack [Member]
Nature Of Retail Operations [Line Items]
Number of retail channels | store			248																		248
Nordstrom Rack [Member] | Canada [Member]
Nature Of Retail Operations [Line Items]
Number of retail channels | store			6																		6
Jeffrey [Member]
Nature Of Retail Operations [Line Items]
Number of retail channels | store			3																		3
Last Chance [Member]
Nature Of Retail Operations [Line Items]
Number of retail channels | store			2																		2
Trunk Club [Member]
Nature Of Retail Operations [Line Items]
Number of retail channels | store			6																		6
Nordstrom Local [Member]
Nature Of Retail Operations [Line Items]
Number of retail channels | store			5																		5

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