"There are huge mugs nearly everywhere in The US"

Yes, most Aussies will accept that baLD statement :-) , but the drinking vessels of that capacity are rarely available in Australia. :-)

"Is Brisbane one of the cities that will still have Starbucks"

from

Twenty-three stores will remain open in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane.

Brisbane (capital of Queensland!) IS considered a 'major city' these days, especially on the East Coast, and since EXPO 88, has grown massively in size of population!

How dare you insult my home!!!!!!...   :-P


"in Oz there was already a well entrenched cafe scene with excellent coffee"

After WWII, a large number of Greeks and Italians settled here, and introduced that sort of scene here - Aussie coffee drinkers enjoy some of the finest coffee in the world (and we are growing great coffee locally too!) and our baristas are highly rained and well respected world wide. Our Supermarket shelves have many dozens of varieties of coffee, of many international brands (including Italian, Greek, Turkish, etc), in all forms, powder, granules (MOCCONA!), liquid, unground and ground beans, coffe & chicory essence, coffee flavoured condensed milk, etc. So if you are expected to pay several bucks for a coffe, you want GOOD! Starbucks 'pseudo coffee in 97 combinations' is crap - honestly! You can buy better instant in the supermarkets!