Related Party Transactions (Details)	6 Months Ended
Apr. 13, 2014 Foundation
Related Party Transactions [Abstract]
Number of Nonprofit Organizations	3

Represents the number of related parties of the reporting entity.

No definition available.

Name:	wfm_NumberOfRelatedParties
Namespace Prefix:	wfm_
Data Type:	xbrli:integerItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration