Ebony and Ivory Coffee opened a new location in Federal Way on July 18, expanding their business from their original location in Lacey, Washington.

Originally intended to open July 1, the grand opening was delayed due to unexpected complications with the espresso machine.

With a working espresso machine now on loan, the new shop is open for business.

The small business is owned and run by Kenzie and Kennon Maurer, a young couple who, between the two of them, are involved in three different businesses.

Kenzie owns a cleaning company, Kennon is a real estate agent, and they now run two coffee shops together.

“People think that we’re insanely busy but we’re not,” said Kennon. “We have really really good teams. All of our employees are incredible and so it makes it easy for us to run everything. We have management teams and everything runs really, really efficiently, so we’re able to run multiple businesses at a high level of efficiency.”

Ebony and Ivory is known as a place with friendly service, according to Kennon.

“Our baristas tend to become friends with all the people in the community,” he said, adding that their goal in opening this new location is to provide a place for people to be a community and get away from the office. “On top of that, there’s really not a ton of coffee in Federal Way, so we saw a business opportunity there.”

The shop’s name was inspired in part by the ebony and ivory keys of a piano. Both Kenzie and Kennon are musicians, Kennon himself being a pianist.

The Maurers also chose the name to acknowledge part of their identity as an interracial couple.

They took inspiration from Paul McCartney and Stevie Wonder’s 1982 hit single “Ebony and Ivory,” the lyrics of which note that the ebony (black) and ivory (white) keys of the piano “live together in perfect harmony/Side by side on my piano keyboard” and ask why people cannot do the same.

These lyrics became the business’s motto and are displayed as a bright neon sign at the Federal Way location.

One of Ebony and Ivory’s most popular products are their monthly coffee flight drinks. Each month, a new series of four unique sampler drinks is released as a package order.

This month’s theme, “Party in the USA,” includes an iced white chocolate mocha, a cherry lime lemonade, a coconut white coffee latte, and a blue raspberry energy drink.

The Federal Way location is open Monday through Friday from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. and is located at 33930 Weyerhaeuser Way S., Federal Way, WA 98001. The original location is at 676 Woodland Square Loop SE a105, Lacey, WA 98503.

For more information, visit ebonyandivorycoffee.com.