Exhibit 23.1

                         CONSENT OF INDEPENDENT ACCOUNTANTS

We hereby consent to the incorporation by reference in the Prospectus Supplement
to the Prospectus constituting part of Amendment No. 1 the Registration 
Statement on Form S-3 (No.33-59691) of Federated Department Stores, Inc. of our
reports dated March  13, 1995 and March 12, 1993 relating to the consolidated 
financial statements of Broadway Stores, Inc. and its subsidiaries as of January
28, 1995 and January 29, 1994 and the fiscal years ended January 28, 1995 and
January 29, 1994, the seventeen weeks ended January 30, 1993, and the 
thirty-five weeks ended October 3, 1992, which appear in the Current Report on
Form 8-K of Federated Department Stores, Inc. dated September 21, 1995. We also
consent to the reference to us under the heading "Experts" in such Prospectus 
Supplement.


Price Waterhouse LLP
Los Angeles, California
September 21, 1995