Segment Information (Details) - USD ($) $ in Thousands	3 Months Ended		6 Months Ended
	Mar. 31, 2017	Mar. 31, 2016	Mar. 31, 2017	Mar. 31, 2016
Revenues:
Merchandise sales	$ 110,238	$ 109,343	$ 221,751	$ 217,927
Jewelry scrapping sales	10,219	12,780	20,017	22,401
Pawn service charges	67,092	64,130	136,105	130,724
Other revenues	2,079	1,959	4,379	4,717
Total revenues	189,628	188,212	382,252	375,769
Merchandise cost of goods sold	70,493	68,332	142,225	134,591
Jewelry scrapping cost of goods sold	8,841	11,085	17,185	19,161
Other cost of revenues	397	431	980	1,043
Net revenues	109,897	108,364	221,862	220,974
Segment and corporate expenses (income):
Operations	74,460	72,256	152,106	148,274
Administrative	13,283	15,621	27,210	35,604
Depreciation and amortization	6,030	6,606	12,403	14,148
Loss (gain) on sale or disposal of assets	71	649	(6)	682
Restructuring	0	218	0	1,910
Interest expense	5,628	3,951	11,193	8,078
Interest income	(2,240)	(7)	(4,856)	(16)
Equity in net income of unconsolidated affiliate	(1,243)	(1,877)	(2,721)	(3,932)
Other expense (income)	228	213	(195)	315
Income from continuing operations before income taxes	13,680	10,734	26,728	15,911
Segments
Revenues:
Merchandise sales	110,238	109,343	221,751	217,927
Jewelry scrapping sales	10,219	12,780	20,017	22,401
Pawn service charges	67,092	64,130	136,105	130,724
Other revenues	2,079	1,959	4,379	4,717
Total revenues	189,628	188,212	382,252	375,769
Merchandise cost of goods sold	70,493	68,332	142,225	134,591
Jewelry scrapping cost of goods sold	8,841	11,085	17,185	19,161
Other cost of revenues	397	431	980	1,043
Net revenues	109,897	108,364	221,862	220,974
Segment and corporate expenses (income):
Operations	74,460	72,256	152,106	148,274
Administrative	0	0	0	0
Depreciation and amortization	3,370	3,862	6,668	8,274
Loss (gain) on sale or disposal of assets	71	649	(6)	682
Restructuring		304		1,727
Interest expense	3	77	5	203
Interest income	(342)	0	(409)	(1)
Equity in net income of unconsolidated affiliate	(1,243)	(1,877)	(2,721)	(3,932)
Other expense (income)	(11)	(73)	(6)	52
Income from continuing operations before income taxes	33,589	33,166	66,225	65,695
Segments | U.S. Pawn
Revenues:
Merchandise sales	95,550	94,740	190,411	186,734
Jewelry scrapping sales	9,056	11,599	17,901	21,199
Pawn service charges	59,661	56,614	120,706	115,235
Other revenues	56	49	107	242
Total revenues	164,323	163,002	329,125	323,410
Merchandise cost of goods sold	60,499	58,241	120,747	113,702
Jewelry scrapping cost of goods sold	7,890	10,128	15,440	18,188
Other cost of revenues	0	0	0	0
Net revenues	95,934	94,633	192,938	191,520
Segment and corporate expenses (income):
Operations	63,556	61,240	130,906	124,785
Administrative	0	0	0	0
Depreciation and amortization	2,660	3,042	5,277	6,602
Loss (gain) on sale or disposal of assets	(3)	546	(74)	553
Restructuring		91		982
Interest expense	0	39	0	125
Interest income	0	0	0	(1)
Equity in net income of unconsolidated affiliate	0	0	0	0
Other expense (income)	(4)	0	(9)	0
Income from continuing operations before income taxes	29,725	29,675	56,838	58,474
Segments | Mexico Pawn
Revenues:
Merchandise sales	14,688	14,603	31,340	31,189
Jewelry scrapping sales	1,163	1,181	2,116	1,181
Pawn service charges	7,431	7,516	15,399	15,489
Other revenues	147	(117)	278	74
Total revenues	23,429	23,183	49,133	47,933
Merchandise cost of goods sold	9,994	10,090	21,478	20,888
Jewelry scrapping cost of goods sold	951	957	1,745	957
Other cost of revenues	0	0	0	0
Net revenues	12,484	12,136	25,910	26,088
Segment and corporate expenses (income):
Operations	8,901	9,024	17,541	20,217
Administrative	0	0	0	0
Depreciation and amortization	660	764	1,291	1,565
Loss (gain) on sale or disposal of assets	74	103	68	129
Restructuring		215		543
Interest expense	3	38	5	78
Interest income	(342)	0	(409)	0
Equity in net income of unconsolidated affiliate	0	0	0	0
Other expense (income)	(48)	(79)	(37)	49
Income from continuing operations before income taxes	3,236	2,071	7,451	3,507
Segments | Other International
Revenues:
Merchandise sales	0	0	0	4
Jewelry scrapping sales	0	0	0	21
Pawn service charges	0	0	0	0
Other revenues	1,876	2,027	3,994	4,401
Total revenues	1,876	2,027	3,994	4,426
Merchandise cost of goods sold	0	1	0	1
Jewelry scrapping cost of goods sold	0	0	0	16
Other cost of revenues	397	431	980	1,043
Net revenues	1,479	1,595	3,014	3,366
Segment and corporate expenses (income):
Operations	2,003	1,992	3,659	3,272
Administrative	0	0	0	0
Depreciation and amortization	50	56	100	107
Loss (gain) on sale or disposal of assets	0	0	0	0
Restructuring		(2)		202
Interest expense	0	0	0	0
Interest income	0	0	0	0
Equity in net income of unconsolidated affiliate	(1,243)	(1,877)	(2,721)	(3,932)
Other expense (income)	41	6	40	3
Income from continuing operations before income taxes	628	1,420	1,936	3,714
Corporate, Non-Segment
Revenues:
Merchandise sales	0	0	0	0
Jewelry scrapping sales	0	0	0	0
Pawn service charges	0	0	0	0
Other revenues	0	0	0	0
Total revenues	0	0	0	0
Merchandise cost of goods sold	0	0	0	0
Jewelry scrapping cost of goods sold	0	0	0	0
Other cost of revenues	0	0	0	0
Net revenues	0	0	0	0
Segment and corporate expenses (income):
Operations	0	0	0	0
Administrative	13,283	15,621	27,210	35,604
Depreciation and amortization	2,660	2,744	5,735	5,874
Loss (gain) on sale or disposal of assets	0	0	0	0
Restructuring		(86)		183
Interest expense	5,625	3,874	11,188	7,875
Interest income	(1,898)	(7)	(4,447)	(15)
Equity in net income of unconsolidated affiliate	0	0	0	0
Other expense (income)	239	286	(189)	263
Income from continuing operations before income taxes	$ (19,909)	$ (22,432)	$ (39,497)	$ (49,784)