Summary of Significant Accounting Policies - Additional Information (Detail) (USD $)	12 Months Ended									1 Months Ended		12 Months Ended								1 Months Ended		1 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2011 Investment	Dec. 31, 2010	Dec. 31, 2009	Dec. 31, 2011 Customer relationship intangibles Year	Dec. 31, 2011 Acquired franchise development rights Year	Dec. 31, 2011 Non-compete intangibles Year	Dec. 31, 2010 Aarons Office Furniture Store	Dec. 31, 2009 Aarons Office Furniture	Dec. 31, 2011 Merchandise Not On Lease	Dec. 31, 2011 Buildings and Improvements Year	Dec. 31, 2011 Other depreciable property and equipment Year	Dec. 31, 2011 Sales and Lease Ownership Store	Dec. 31, 2010 Sales and Lease Ownership Store	Dec. 31, 2009 Sales and Lease Ownership Store	Dec. 31, 2011 HomeSmart	Dec. 31, 2011 Maximum Merchandise On Lease	Dec. 31, 2011 Maximum Office Furniture Stores	Dec. 31, 2011 Minimum Merchandise On Lease	Dec. 31, 2011 Minimum Office Furniture Stores	Mar. 23, 2010 Nonvoting Common Stock And Class A Common Stock	Dec. 07, 2010 Nonvoting Common Stock And Class A Common Stock	Dec. 31, 2011 Nonvoting Common Stock And Class A Common Stock Maximum	Dec. 07, 2010 Nonvoting Common Stock
Significant Accounting Policies [Line Items]
Common Stock, Par Value	$ 0.50	$ 0.50																					$ 0.50
Common Stock, Shares Authorized	225,000,000	225,000,000																			225,000,000
Maximum percentage of cash dividend on Nonvoting Common Stock higher than any dividend paid on Class A Common Stock																						50.00%
Stock split conversion ratio																				1.5
Percentage of stock dividend on both Nonvoting Common Stock and Class A Common Stock effected by stock split																				50.00%
Lease merchandise, useful life									36 months							24 months	48 months	12 months	24 months
Lease merchandise, percentage of salvage value	0.00%																30.00%		0.00%
Lease merchandise adjustments	$ 46,200,000	$ 46,500,000	$ 38,300,000					$ 865,000
Impairment charge								1,300,000				453,000	879,000
Number of stores closed							14					51	36	59
Number of store expected to be closed							1
Closed store reserves							3,300,000
Disposal activities amount recorded in lease merchandise write-downs and other miscellaneous expenses							4,700,000
Disposal activities amount recorded in operating expense							9,000,000
Number of securities in unrealized loss position	38
Number of securities	44
Assets held for sale	9,885,000	11,849,000
Advertising costs	38,900,000	31,700,000	31,000,000
Amount of cooperative advertising consideration netted against advertising expense	25,400,000	27,200,000	23,400,000
Prepaid advertising asset	1,600,000	3,200,000
Property, plant and equipment, useful life, minimum										5	1
Property, plant and equipment, useful life, maximum										40	15
Depreciation expense for property, plant and equipment	45,200,000	41,400,000	40,700,000
Other Intangibles, Net	6,066,000	3,832,000										4,000,000	3,800,000		2,000,000
Estimated useful lives of intangibles				2	10	3
Amortization expense												2,000,000	3,100,000	3,800,000	312,000
Shipping and handling costs	68,100,000	60,600,000	55,000,000
Comprehensive income	$ 113,200,000	$ 119,300,000	$ 113,900,000