LONG-TERM DEBT (Details) (USD $)				3 Months Ended	6 Months Ended					6 Months Ended		1 Months Ended	6 Months Ended		6 Months Ended						1 Months Ended		6 Months Ended						1 Months Ended	6 Months Ended									1 Months Ended	3 Months Ended	6 Months Ended		6 Months Ended
LONG-TERM DEBT (Details) (USD $)	Jan. 31, 2014	Jul. 31, 2013	Jan. 31, 2013	Jan. 31, 2014 Interest rate swaps Cash flow hedges	Jan. 31, 2014 Interest rate swaps Cash flow hedges	Jan. 31, 2014 Interest rate swaps Cash flow hedges Accounts payable and accrued liabilities	Jan. 31, 2014 Interest rate swaps Cash flow hedges Other liabilities	Jan. 31, 2014 Interest rate swaps October 2013 - July 2014 Cash flow hedges	Jan. 31, 2014 Interest rate swaps August 2014 - July 2016 Cash flow hedges	Jan. 31, 2014 Revolving credit agreement	Jan. 31, 2013 Revolving credit agreement	Jul. 31, 2012 Amended Credit Agreement	Jan. 31, 2014 Amended Credit Agreement	Jul. 24, 2012 Amended Credit Agreement	Jan. 31, 2014 Amended Credit Agreement Minimum	Jan. 31, 2014 Amended Credit Agreement February through September 2014 Minimum	Jan. 31, 2014 Amended Credit Agreement February through September 2014 Maximum	Jan. 31, 2014 Amended Credit Agreement October through December 2014 Minimum	Jan. 31, 2014 Amended Credit Agreement October through December 2014 Maximum	Jan. 31, 2014 Amended Credit Agreement January 2015	Jul. 31, 2012 FILO Facility	Jul. 24, 2012 FILO Facility	Jan. 31, 2014 FILO Facility LIBOR	Jan. 31, 2014 FILO Facility Base rate	Jan. 31, 2014 FILO Facility Minimum LIBOR	Jan. 31, 2014 FILO Facility Minimum Base rate	Jan. 31, 2014 FILO Facility Maximum LIBOR	Jan. 31, 2014 FILO Facility Maximum Base rate	Jul. 31, 2012 Amended Credit Agreement (excluding the FILO Facility)	Jan. 31, 2014 Amended Credit Agreement (excluding the FILO Facility) LIBOR	Jan. 31, 2014 Amended Credit Agreement (excluding the FILO Facility) Base rate	Jan. 31, 2014 Amended Credit Agreement (excluding the FILO Facility) Minimum LIBOR	Jan. 31, 2014 Amended Credit Agreement (excluding the FILO Facility) Minimum Base rate	Jan. 31, 2014 Amended Credit Agreement (excluding the FILO Facility) Maximum LIBOR	Jan. 31, 2014 Amended Credit Agreement (excluding the FILO Facility) Maximum Base rate	Jan. 31, 2014 Revolving credit prior to amended and restated revolving credit agreement	Jan. 31, 2014 Senior Secured Term Loan	Jan. 31, 2013 Senior Secured Term Loan	Jul. 31, 2012 Senior secured term loan amended July 24, 2012	Jul. 31, 2012 Senior secured term loan amended July 24, 2012	Jan. 31, 2014 Senior secured term loan amended July 24, 2012	Jul. 24, 2012 Senior secured term loan amended July 24, 2012	Jan. 31, 2014 Senior secured term loan amended July 24, 2012 Minimum	Jan. 31, 2014 Capital lease obligations	Jan. 31, 2013 Capital lease obligations
Long-term debt
Long-term debt	$ 445,267,000	$ 410,050,000	$ 473,975,000							$ 363,000,000	$ 390,700,000																										$ 80,000,000	$ 80,000,000						$ 2,267,000	$ 3,275,000
Maximum borrowing capacity														665,000,000								15,000,000
Maturity date												Jul. 24, 2017
Borrowing capacity description												Borrowings under the Amended Credit Agreement (excluding the FILO Facility) are limited to a borrowing base equal to 90 percent of the appraised liquidation value of eligible inventory (less certain reserves that may be established under the agreement), plus 90 percent of eligible credit card receivables. Borrowings under the FILO Facility are limited to a borrowing base equal to the lesser of: (i) 2.5 percent of the appraised liquidation value of eligible inventory or (ii) $15 million. The Amended Credit Agreement is secured by a first priority security interest and lien on merchandise inventory, credit card receivables and certain other assets and a second priority security interest and lien on all other assets. Based on the most recent inventory appraisal, the monthly borrowing rates calculated from the cost of eligible inventory range from 68 to 73 percent for the period of February through September 2014, 82 to 84 percent for the period of October through December 2014 and 71 percent for January 2015.
Percentage of appraised liquidation value of eligible inventory used to calculate cap amount																					2.50%								90.00%										107.50%
Percentage of eligible credit card receivables																													90.00%										100.00%
Percentage of cost of eligible inventory used to calculate monthly borrowing rates																68.00%	73.00%	82.00%	84.00%	71.00%
Variable interest rate base																							LIBOR	Base rate						LIBOR	Base rate
Variable interest rate margin (as a percent)																									3.50%	2.50%	4.00%	3.00%				1.75%	0.75%	2.25%	1.25%
Quarterly unused commitment fee (as a percent)												0.375%
Covenant terms of revolving credit facility												If excess availability (as defined in the Amended Credit Agreement) falls below certain levels we will be required to maintain a minimum fixed charge coverage ratio of 1.0. Borrowing availability was approximately $259 million as of January 31, 2014, which exceeded the excess availability requirement by $197 million. The fixed charge coverage ratio was 2.47 as of January 31, 2014. The Amended Credit Agreement contains various other covenants including restrictions on the incurrence of certain indebtedness, payment of dividends, liens, investments, acquisitions and asset sales. As of January 31, 2014, we were in compliance with all covenants.
Fixed charge coverage ratio													2.47		1.0																												1.0
Remaining borrowing capacity													259,000,000
Remaining borrowing capacity in excess of minimum availability requirement													197,000,000
Debt issuance costs										12,100,000			5,600,000																											4,400,000
Unamortized debt issuance costs																																				6,500,000					2,400,000
Life of the credit agreement													5 years																												5 years
Interest rate swaps disclosures
Notional Amount								215,000,000	215,000,000
Fixed interest rate (as a percent)								0.29%	1.19%
Fair Value				2,591,000	2,591,000	1,000,000	1,600,000	117,000	2,474,000
Change in the fair value of the interest rate swaps				100,000	2,700,000
Principal amount of debt issued																																										80,000,000
Term loan restrictions on revolving credit agreement																																							The Amended Term Loan totals $80.0 million, matures in July 2017 and is subject to a borrowing base equal to: (i) 107.5 percent of the appraised liquidation value of eligible inventory plus (ii) 100 percent of credit card receivables and an amount equal to the lesser of $40 million or 100 percent of the appraised liquidation value of intellectual property minus (iii) the borrowing base under the Amended Credit Agreement. In the event the outstanding principal under the Amended Term Loan exceeds the Amended Term Loan borrowing base, availability under the Amended Credit Agreement would be reduced by the excess. As of January 31, 2014, the outstanding principal under the Amended Term Loan did not exceed the borrowing base.
Borrowing cap amount attributable to appraised liquidation value of intellectual property																																										40,000,000
Percentage of appraised liquidation value of intellectual property used to calculate cap amount																																							100.00%
Interest rate (as a percent)																																									11.00%
Penalty on repayment of debt during the second year (as a percent)																																									4.00%
Penalty on repayment of debt during the third year (as a percent)																																									3.00%
Penalty on repayment of debt during the fourth year (as a percent)																																									2.00%
Penalty on repayment of debt during the fifth year (as a percent)																																									0.00%
Covenant terms of senior secured term loan																																							The Amended Term Loan includes various covenants which are consistent with the covenants in the Amended Credit Agreement, including restrictions on the incurrence of certain indebtedness, payment of dividends, liens, investments, acquisitions, asset sales and the requirement to maintain a minimum fixed charge coverage ratio of 1.0 if excess availability thresholds under the Amended Credit Agreement are not maintained. As of January 31, 2014, we were in compliance with all covenants.
Interest expense																																								$ 2,000,000

ZALE CORP 10-Q