Twist Market, the allergen-friendly food shop already serving customers at 30 Wexford St. in Needham Center, will go before the Design Review Board on Monday, Aug. 17, seeking a special permit to install permanent exterior signage.

The public hearing is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. via Zoom (Meeting ID: 837 5422 1747). Residents can view the application at needhamma.gov/DRBSpecialPermitApplications or attend the virtual session to comment.

The hearing is a procedural step under Needham's sign bylaw for a business that is already open. Twist Market began serving customers on a Thursday-through-Saturday schedule, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., according to the business's Instagram page. The Design Review Board heard sign applications from four other businesses in July, including Onyx Partners and Pure Hockey.

CEO and co-founder Kathryn Ernst founded Twist Bakery and Cafe Inc. in 2011 after spending a year developing a proprietary gluten-free flour blend in her home kitchen. The company runs 100% gluten-free and nut-free bakery-cafes in Millis and Burlington. The Needham location is the brand's newest expansion, but it operates differently. No hot-food menu. Instead, fridges and freezers stock pre-made items like turkey empanadas, brownies, pot pies and meatballs for customers to take home.

"You'll have people that come in who have celiac disease, and they're like, 'Anything that's gluten free?' and you're like, 'The entire place is gluten free.' And [they'll] get tears in their eyes because they don't realize, you know, how free it feels," Ernst told the Needham Observer on June 10.

The Ernsts leased the Wexford Street space in 2023 to store the 40,000 pounds of baking ingredients that arrive with each bulk order. Construction during the winter of 2025-2026 transformed the unit into a multipurpose space that now doubles as headquarters for Twist's e-commerce branch, which ships products nationwide. Ernst told the Needham Observer that Needham's location between the Millis and Burlington bakeries made it an ideal spot.

She also said she had reached out to Boston Children's Hospital's Needham facility about a partnership to help families with children newly diagnosed with celiac disease, though nothing had been finalized as of June 10.

The Aug. 17 hearing covers sign bylaw Sections 5.3.4 and 5.3.5. The town's public notice was posted Wednesday, Aug. 5, by the Planning and Community Development office.