Basis of Presentation - Additional Information (Detail) (USD $)	3 Months Ended		9 Months Ended			9 Months Ended										3 Months Ended	9 Months Ended		1 Months Ended		9 Months Ended	3 Months Ended		9 Months Ended		3 Months Ended		9 Months Ended			3 Months Ended		9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2011	Sep. 30, 2010	Sep. 30, 2011	Sep. 30, 2010	Dec. 31, 2010	Sep. 30, 2011 Employees Base Compensation Maximum	Sep. 30, 2011 Employees Incentive Pay Compensation Maximum	Sep. 30, 2011 Non Employee Directors Cash And Stock Director Fee Maximum	Sep. 30, 2011 Sales and Lease Ownership	Sep. 30, 2011 Sales and Lease Ownership Customer relationship intangibles	Sep. 30, 2011 Sales and Lease Ownership Non-compete intangibles	Sep. 30, 2011 Sales and Lease Ownership Acquired franchise development rights	Sep. 30, 2011 Home Smart	Sep. 30, 2011 Home Smart Customer relationship intangibles	Sep. 30, 2011 Home Smart Non-compete intangibles	Sep. 30, 2011 Restricted stock units	Sep. 30, 2011 Restricted stock units	Sep. 30, 2010 Restricted stock units	Feb. 28, 2011 Restricted stock awards	Feb. 28, 2010 Restricted stock awards	Sep. 30, 2011 Restricted stock awards	Sep. 30, 2011 Stock options	Sep. 30, 2010 Stock options	Sep. 30, 2011 Stock options	Sep. 30, 2010 Stock options	Sep. 30, 2011 Restricted stock units and restricted stock awards	Sep. 30, 2010 Restricted stock units and restricted stock awards	Sep. 30, 2011 Restricted stock units and restricted stock awards	Sep. 30, 2010 Restricted stock units and restricted stock awards	Sep. 30, 2011 Customer relationship intangibles Year	Sep. 30, 2010 Aarons Office Furniture Store	Jun. 30, 2010 Aarons Office Furniture Store	Sep. 30, 2010 Aarons Office Furniture Store
Organization, Consolidation and Presentation of Financial Statements Disclosure [Line Items]
Lease merchandise adjustments	$ 12,700,000	$ 12,200,000	$ 32,600,000	$ 35,300,000
Compensation expense related to unvested stock option grants	612,000	874,000	1,800,000	2,500,000
Compensation expense related to restricted stock unit ("RSUs") awards and restricted stock awards	758,000	359,000	2,000,000	1,200,000
Stock options granted				347,250
Options exercised	2,000	57,000	263,000	86,000
Aggregate number of shares of common stock that may be issued or transferred under the incentive stock awards plan	14,735,112		14,735,112
Deferred compensation expense charged to operations	60,000	59,000	250,000	174,000
Deferred compensation benefits paid	77,000		77,000
Acquired goodwill assets on business combination									7,200,000				12,000,000
Acquired intangible assets on business combination										1,100,000	588,000	94,000		1,200,000	816,000
Estimated useful lives of intangibles																														2
Amortization expense	455,000.0	777,000.0	1,400,000	2,400,000
Aggregate purchase price of acquisitions									13,500,000				20,900,000
Restricted stock granted																	225,000	300,000			6,000
Restricted stock awards vested																			137,000	146,000
Percentage of deferred compensation arrangement						75.00%	100.00%	100.00%
Deferred compensation plan liability	5,400,000		5,400,000		3,500,000
Cash surrender value of company-owned life insurance ("COLI") contracts	5,400,000		5,400,000		3,500,000
Uncertain tax benefits that, if recognized, would affect the effective tax rate	1,200,000		1,200,000		1,200,000
Assets held for sale	11,682,000		11,682,000		11,849,000
Increase in weighted average shares outstanding assuming dilution																182,000	169,000					1,000,000	625,000	994,000	738,000
Anti-dilutive Securities excluded from the computation of earnings per share assuming dilution																							325,000	293,000	325,000	6,000	438,000	6,000	438,000
Number of stores closed																																8	10
Number of store expected to be closed																															1		1
Closed store reserves																															949,000
Disposal activities amount recorded in lease merchandise write-downs and other miscellaneous expenses																																	4,700,000
Disposal activities amount recorded in operating expense																																	$ 8,100,000