Do you have any hobbies or interests that you do outside of your paying job that are related to architecture? Even a blog in which you re-post pictures of projects you like...

Have you tried entering any competitions just by-yourself or a friend(s)? Have you taken any computer courses since graduating? Have you thought yourself new software packages? Have you built any furniture or items around the house that are cool/interesting? Photography? Graphic design?

If so, I would list all relevant activities you have participated on in the same breath as mentioning your current employment situation.

Coming across as very eager to rejoin the profession should be your priority. Being out of the profession for extended period of time is, sadly, more of a rule than exception these days...

Landing a job these days is a crapsshoot (only a fixed game of craps where the house never loses).

I'm also curious what others may have to add.....

In the past I think you might have caught grief from HR folks at some firms for this type of issue but EVERYONE is aware of the recession and what fellow professionals have gone thru recently, even the firms that haven't suffered that much - I've seen several resumes over the past year that have just listed the "non-architectural" employment as another job in the list of positions and some have even mentioned it in their cover letter - I always appreciate the blunt, straight-forward approach but that's just me.

At the very least mention how this job has helped you become a better leader, organizer, you know relevant stuff.

don't worry about gaps, because everyone knows that architects haven't seen these levels of unemployment since the great depression.

On another note, seems to me that you have to know people in some cities like Chicago.

I would list it as other employment and when discussing it (in the cover letter maybe?) describe how the leadership qualities, scheduling, and organization skills you harnessed as a manager are a foundation/complimentary to your skills as an architect/ junior architect in producing quality work in a timely manner

My very humble advice would be to list it chronlogically. If you've entered comps, done small design work, blogged, perhaps you could add that in the 'job' field above the store manager position. I think it's better to show work ethic than a huge gap.

if you have other, non-design experience, you may want to make another category on your resume and call it relevant or other experience. that's what i've done, since i have a lot of "other" experience. this way you are able to keep your design experience on top. then again, i'm still looking for a job, so what do i know.

i would have two categories and differentiate "relevant experience" i.e. jobs in the field with "activities" i.e. cool stuff you have done to make yourself a better candidate. i think being a store manager would be under "activities".

for example, i've listed pro bono work, film projects, night classes, etc under "activities"

But I think its good that worked as a store manager, that means you have aquired some management skills, which is lacking from 90% of architects.

I think the general rule is to either list jobs chronologically or by relevance. Usually chronologically is best, but in your situation you might list your experiences by relevancy. Not that what you are doing isn't relevant, you should play up the skills you learned there. I would be interested to hear what some firm principals say too, none have chimed in yet.

You might want to think about Retail Architecture. I actually saw a post a couple weeks ago in the NYT where a Retail Store was looking for someone with Architectural experience to work for them. You have to play your cards right.

You've been doing freelance architecture and design work since 2008. In an interview, you can also mention that you've been a store manager should the topic come up.

If you haven't been doing it already, you should be doing at least several competitions a year, making physical models, learning Revit/3ds Max/VRay/Maxwell etc. If you're not an expert in InDesign, become one. It's a good time to be learning new skills and honing old ones.