Intangible Assets and Acquisitions (Details) (USD $)	12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2011	Dec. 31, 2010	Dec. 31, 2009
Acquisitions (Table Details) [Abstract]
Number of stores acquired remaining open	26	3	1
Number of stores acquired that were merged with existing stores	71	14	26
Number of kiosk locations acquired	5	158
Number of transactions	19	15	20
Total purchase price	$ 26,747,000	$ 74,378,000	$ 7,221,000
Acquisition amounts allocated to liabilities	(884,000)	(16,160,000)
Finite-Lived Intangible Assets [Line Items]
Gross carrying amount	84,290,000,000	73,905,000,000
Accumulated amortization	72,560,000,000	68,281,000,000
Acquisition amounts allocated to goodwill	18,755,000	55,922,000	4,456,000
Changes in Recorded Goodwill (Table Details) [Abstract]
Goodwill, beginning balance	1,320,467,000	1,268,684,000
Additions from acquisitions	18,755,000	55,922,000
Goodwill related to stores sold or closed	(390,000)	(4,320,000)
Post purchase price allocation adjustments	293,000	181,000
Goodwill, ending balance	1,339,125,000	1,320,467,000	1,268,684,000
Goodwill impairment related to discontinuation of our financial services business		1,800,000
Estimated Amortization Expense (Table Details) [Abstract]
2012	4,517,000
2013	1,376,000
2014	571,000
2015	568,000
2016	568,000
Thereafter	4,130,000
Total	11,730,000
Intangible Assets and Acquisitions (Details) [Abstract]
Aggregate amortization expense	4,285,000	701,000	1,291,000
Amount funded for acquisition of The Rental Store, Inc.		71,000,000
Weighted average amortization period for intangible assets added (in years)	8
Amortization period for acquired customer relationships (in months)	21
Amortization period for acquired vendor relationships, minimum (in years)	7
Amortization period for acquired vendor relationships, maximum (in years)	15
Noncompete Agreements [Member]
Finite-Lived Intangible Assets [Line Items]
Average life (years)	3
Gross carrying amount	6,104,000,000	6,094,000,000
Accumulated amortization	6,091,000,000	6,057,000,000
Acquisition amounts allocated to intangibles	10,000
Customer Relationships [Member]
Finite-Lived Intangible Assets [Line Items]
Average life (years)	2
Gross carrying amount	70,648,000,000	67,811,000,000
Accumulated amortization	65,901,000,000	62,224,000,000
Acquisition amounts allocated to intangibles	2,843,000	5,551,000	554,000
Vendor Relationships [Member]
Finite-Lived Intangible Assets [Line Items]
Average life (years)	11
Gross carrying amount	7,538,000,000
Accumulated amortization	568,000,000
Receivables [Member]
Finite-Lived Intangible Assets [Line Items]
Acquisition amounts allocated to assets			398,000
Rental Merchandise [Member]
Finite-Lived Intangible Assets [Line Items]
Acquisition amounts allocated to assets	6,023,000	27,325,000	1,813,000
Property and Other Assets [Member]
Finite-Lived Intangible Assets [Line Items]
Acquisition amounts allocated to assets		1,740,000
Rental Store Acquisition [Member]
Finite-Lived Intangible Assets [Line Items]
Acquisition amounts allocated to goodwill		53,900,000
Vendor relationships	$ 7,500,000