Segment Information Segment Information (Details) $ in Thousands	3 Months Ended								12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2018 USD ($) store	Sep. 30, 2018 USD ($)	Jun. 30, 2018 USD ($)	Mar. 31, 2018 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2017 USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2017 USD ($)	Jun. 30, 2017 USD ($)	Mar. 31, 2017 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2018 USD ($) store	Dec. 31, 2017 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2016 USD ($)
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Total revenues	$ 661,750	$ 644,942	$ 655,730	$ 698,043	$ 638,954	$ 643,965	$ 677,635	$ 741,986	$ 2,660,465	$ 2,702,540	$ 2,963,252
Gross profit	419,564	407,740	423,886	436,978	410,881	412,465	432,533	462,663	1,688,168	1,718,542	1,935,049
Product transfer fee									12,000
Product transfer charge-off									2,200
Operating profit (loss)	13,624	$ 25,632	$ 27,151	$ (10,270)	(54,893)	$ (8,445)	$ (873)	$ 1,152	56,137	(63,059)	(66,596)
Depreciation, amortization and write-down of intangibles									68,946	74,639	80,456
Goodwill impairment charge									0	0	151,320
Capital expenditures									27,962	65,460	61,143
On rent	683,808				701,803				683,808	701,803	795,118
Held for rent	123,662				167,188				123,662	167,188	206,836
Assets	$ 1,396,917				1,420,781				1,396,917	1,420,781	1,602,741
Rentals and fees									$ 2,244,860	2,267,741	2,500,053
Number of retail installment sales stores | store	44								44
Royalty Fee Percentage Minimum									2.00%
Royalty Fee Percentage Maximum									6.00%
Furniture and accessories [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Rentals and fees									$ 962,241	921,159	927,537
Consumer electronics [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Rentals and fees									410,184	459,942	553,976
Appliances [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Rentals and fees									344,548	351,893	391,539
Computers [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Rentals and fees									120,756	124,158	148,889
Smartphones [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Rentals and fees									62,592	57,927	93,449
Other products and services [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Rentals and fees									344,539	352,662	384,663
Core Us [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Total revenues									1,855,712	1,835,422	2,069,725
Gross profit									1,299,809	1,276,212	1,467,679
Operating profit (loss)									147,787	86,196	(1,020)
Depreciation, amortization and write-down of intangibles									25,566	31,070	39,734
Capital expenditures									17,173	26,506	20,802
On rent	$ 424,829				408,993				424,829	408,993	426,845
Held for rent	117,294				156,039				117,294	156,039	192,718
Assets	714,914				776,296				714,914	776,296	860,717
Rentals and fees									1,640,839
Acceptance Now [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Total revenues									722,562	797,987	817,814
Gross profit									339,616	400,002	422,381
Operating profit (loss)									93,951	48,618	105,925
Depreciation, amortization and write-down of intangibles									1,677	2,498	3,309
Capital expenditures									203	2,723	2,330
On rent	242,978				278,443				242,978	278,443	354,486
Held for rent	1,207				4,940				1,207	4,940	7,489
Assets	312,151				350,970				312,151	350,970	432,383
Rentals and fees									557,592
Mexico [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Total revenues									49,613	47,005	50,927
Gross profit									34,364	32,592	35,549
Operating profit (loss)									2,605	(260)	(2,449)
Depreciation, amortization and write-down of intangibles									1,006	1,973	3,179
Capital expenditures									295	124	283
On rent	16,001				14,367				16,001	14,367	13,787
Held for rent	5,161				6,209				5,161	6,209	6,629
Assets	29,321				33,529				29,321	33,529	31,415
Rentals and fees									46,429
Franchising [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Total revenues									32,578	22,126	24,786
Gross profit									14,379	9,736	9,440
Operating profit (loss)									4,385	5,081	5,650
Depreciation, amortization and write-down of intangibles									172	177	177
Assets	4,287				3,802				4,287	3,802	2,197
Rentals and fees									0
Operating Segments [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Operating profit (loss)									248,728	139,635	108,106
Depreciation, amortization and write-down of intangibles									28,421	35,718	46,399
Capital expenditures									17,671	29,353	23,415
Assets	1,060,673				1,164,597				1,060,673	1,164,597	1,326,712
Corporate, Non-Segment [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Operating profit (loss)									(192,591)	(202,694)	(174,702)
Depreciation, amortization and write-down of intangibles									40,525	38,921	34,057
Capital expenditures									10,291	36,107	37,728
Assets	336,244				256,184				336,244	256,184	276,029
United States [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Total revenues									2,610,432	2,654,819	2,911,613
Assets	1,366,405				1,383,004				1,366,405	1,383,004	1,567,933
Mexico [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Total revenues									49,612	47,005	50,927
Assets	29,321				33,529				29,321	33,529	31,415
Canada [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Total revenues									421	716	712
Assets	$ 1,191				$ 4,248				$ 1,191	$ 4,248	$ 3,393