Gilmore Girls fanatics take East Vancouver caf by storm

Fans of the Gilmore Girls took a Vancouver caf by storm after it was transformedinto Luke's Diner the trademark caf from the recently revived TVshow.

Vancouver's Trafiq Caf and Bakery was transformed into the fictional Luke's Diner alongside 200 other shops across Canada and the U.S. as part of Netflix's marketing campaign behind the series' upcoming reboot.

Fans began lining up at 5:30 a.m. nearly four hours before the shop opened its doors. The lineup stretched around the block by the time the doors opened.

"It's been an overwhelmingly successful day," said Shauna MacNeil, co-owner and front-of-house manager of the caf.

Her husband and fellow co-owner SergioSalamonovitzwas equally surprised.

"A lot of us are fans. We've all watched Gilmore Girls," hesaid. "[But] never in our wildest dreams did we think this would be the case."

The management duo was approached by Netflix's marketing team to participate in the Gilmore Girls promotion. The restaurant was supplied with250 collector cups of coffee to offerfree of chargeto the hordes of customers. But it turns outdemand was much higher than anticipated.

"By 9 a.m. there were about 400 people in line, which wasobviously not expected," he said.

Salamonovitz says the restaurant was prepared for the rush, scheduling all-hands-on-deck for the storm.

Fans also came prepared, providing their fellow fanaticswith snacks.

The CBC's resident Gilmore Girl's die-hardLisa Christiansen visited the lineup and chatted with some of the fans.

On The Coast5:27Vancouver cafe transformed into Luke's Diner to celebrate the Gilmore Girls revival

Vancouver cafe transformed into Luke's Diner to celebrate the Gilmore Girls revival

With files from CBC's On the Coast