I finally got through...
"Sorry, we can't hold or reserve a phone or anything like that... They haven't told us at all what kind of crowd to expect, if any, although it was just officially announced a few hours ago so I would imagine that if you're here at 9AM when we open, you'll get one of the first ones".
So, of course, no guarantees... even for a loyal customer who's been with the company for going on a decade now... :/
Oh well, I will be leaving my house at 815-820AM, it's a 20-25min drive... I better get me some Nexus love!