The microsoft site gave me that hint.

They have extra stock for today but have been instructed not to sell them through stores, and instead reserve them for online orders. The three stores near me seem to be following the rules, as I called them all this morning hoping someone would just tell me they have them and to come in, but no dice.

There’s one in a tiny town about an hour from me that I might try—it’s where I ended up getting a Switch when those were difficult to find.

Was there right at the start, everything ready to go. They were gone by the time I finished the checkout process.

I'm not sure what the answer is when so many people want something in such limited supply, but there has to be a better process than this.

I recommend continuing to check the store on your xbox.

Had one in my cart on Xbox.com, but they must have run out before I was able to place the order.

Yeah it still just lets you add it to cart, and only says Out of Stock once you get that far.