Are your contacts currently backed up anywhere other than the phone? iCloud? Verizon Backup Assistant? Soem have had bad experiences with Verizon's backup assistant, but it has transferred contacts from basic phones to BB to iPhones to Androids - in our family at least. If they are backed up online, theoretically, they can be transferred to the new phone.
Some stores are more capable than others of transferring contacts form one phone to another. If you aren't making the purchase in the store, they are less likely to try and help with a transfer.
