William R. Greene ran an apothecary shop at 1 Westminister Street in Providence circa 1879. He moved his residence only to East Greenwich from 1883 until 1889 when he moved back to Providence.

Circa 1892 the company became Wm. R. Greene & Co. Apothecaries when he took in George C. Greene as partner.

Greene & Co. were widely known for being open day and night and advertised as such on their bottles, Greene's Always Open. They were family oriented and dispensing chemists with stores at 1 Westminister Street and 675 Westminister Street , and by 1907 they had moved to 27 Westminister Street as Manufacturing Druggists.

The company went out of business in 1916.