Document and Entity Information (USD $) In Millions, except Share data	6 Months Ended
Jul. 30, 2011	Aug. 26, 2011	Jul. 31, 2010
Entity Registrant Name	BON TON STORES INC
Entity Central Index Key	0000878079
Document Type	10-Q
Document Period End Date	Jul. 30, 2011
Amendment Flag	false
Document Fiscal Year Focus	2011
Document Fiscal Period Focus	Q2
Current Fiscal Year End Date	--01-28
Entity Well-known Seasoned Issuer	No
Entity Voluntary Filers	No
Entity Current Reporting Status	Yes
Entity Filer Category	Accelerated Filer
Entity Public Float			$ 121.4
Entity Common Stock, Shares Outstanding		16,737,576
Class A Common Stock
Entity Common Stock, Shares Outstanding		2,951,490

If the value is true, then the document as an amendment to previously-filed/accepted document.

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End date of current fiscal year in the format --MM-DD.

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The end date of the period reflected on the cover page if a periodic report. For all other reports and registration statements containing historical data, it is the date up through which that historical data is presented. If there is no historical data in the report, use the filing date. The format of the date is CCYY-MM-DD.

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The type of document being provided (such as 10-K, 10-Q, N-1A, etc). The document type is limited to the same value as the supporting SEC submission type, minus any "/A" suffix. The acceptable values are as follows: S-1, S-3, S-4, S-11, F-1, F-3, F-4, F-9, F-10, 6-K, 8-K, 10, 10-K, 10-Q, 20-F, 40-F, N-1A, 485BPOS, 497, NCSR, N-CSR, N-CSRS, N-Q, 10-KT, 10-QT, 20-FT, and Other.

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A unique 10-digit SEC-issued value to identify entities that have filed disclosures with the SEC. It is commonly abbreviated as CIK.

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Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
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Indicate "Yes" or "No" whether registrants (1) have filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that registrants were required to file such reports), and (2) have been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days. This information should be based on the registrant's current or most recent filing containing the related disclosure.

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Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
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