World market center is where national and international furniture stores shop for new inventory and hot trends in home decor. The manufacturers housed in these buildings determine what you will be seeing in your local retail store. The furniture convention comes to these buildings twice a year for a week at a time and during the convention the buildings are packed with people from around the world. During the rest of the year, the buildings (I believe the bottom floors) are open only to the trade.
Also, there is a high end restaurant located in one of the buildings that is open year-round and has fantastic reviews here on Yelp.