Ceased heartlessly turning over stores (6)
I believe the answer is:
depots
'stores' is the definition.
(I know this)
'ceased heartlessly turning' is the wordplay.
'ceased' becomes 'stopped' ('stop' can be a synonym of 'cease').
'heartlessly' means to remove the middle letters.
'turning' says the letters should be written in reverse.
'stopped' with its centre removed is 'stoped'.
'stoped' backwards is 'DEPOTS'.
'over' is the link.
(Other definitions for depots that I've seen before include "Stations where passengers or goods are unloaded" , "HQs" , "Storage places" .)