A:AnswerYes you can. You can just go in to your My Verizon account and your device and then pay off the balance and port your number out after you pay it off.
A:AnswerIt's the Verizon version (I bought it) and is locked to them when you first buy it. It's supposed to unlock automatically within 24 hours so you can use it on other carriers, but I believe it has to first be activated on Verizon.
A:AnswerIn the store they would just be able to activate your phone through their system and depending on the phone you have now swap out the SIM card from the current phone to your new phone. If they cannot they should be able to supply a new SIM card and migrate your information on the phone and activate your new phone and card through Verizon's system.